In The NotSo Safe Arms Of Itachi
by BelieveIt
Summary: When Sasuke suddenly leaves Naruto is distraught, and he seeks comfort in Itachi. Better summary in story. Warning: there will be eventual Yaoi! ItaNaru
1. Chapter 1

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:**BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto s off wondering he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win of face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

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**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi**

_Narutos dream: _

_"Hey Sasuke! Wanna eat ramen with me?" Yelled an over excited Naruto._

"_No I'm Okay Naruto thanks." _

_**FF SASUKE LEAVING-**_

_Sasuke is walking out of Konoha and Naruto sees him_

"_Sasuke-kun where are you going?"_

"_I'm leaving Konoha, I need to get revenge on that brother of mine" _

"_Sasuke! Don't leave me please, what friends will I have without you, please stay." _

"_No Dobe, I have to go!"_

_-Sasuke begins to fade as well as the scenery around him leaving Naruto alone in what seems to be a white nothing- Naruto falls to his knees helplessly, crying silently _

_**FF AGAIN **_

"_Sasuke! Your back!" Naruto yelled upon seeing the raven haired boy running to him and latching his small arms around his waist. _

"_Yeah I'm back now, and I'm staying" they start walking away together Sasuke stops and turn to look at Naruto._

"_Naruto…." Sasuke whispers._

"_Yes Sasuke?" Naruto replies in a similar whisper._

"_You have to wake up now"_

"_What are you on about, I'm already awake" _

"_Just try it Naruto wake up… for me" _

_-everything starts getting further away from Naruto and Naruto reaches out to try grab onto Sasuke but he's too far away and slowly he couldn't make out Sasuke ace only just his outline and then soon enough he couldn't even see that. He felt lost._

Naruto woke up with a smile on his face thinking Sasuke would still be there next to him, he was not and Narutos' smile dropped, countless of times Naruto has had that same dream and every time he had believed it would be true and every time it was not. It just made him even sadder thinking that Sasuke was gone, and come back only to wake up and it was the same old dream again.

Naruto got up slowly wanting to go back to sleep and carry on dreaming, never waking up unless his dream comes true and Sasuke does come back. He slowly started to do his daily routine, shower, dress etc. then started to head out for the day. He had a free day to do whatever he wanted so he thought he'd go to his favourite secluded area and just daydream.

As he was wondering, thinking, he caught a glimpse of raven black hair, his immediate thought was _Sasuke_ and he quickly turn to follow him.

"Sasuke! Sasuke wait!" Naruto yelled at the boy ahead, the boy just kept on walking ignoring Narutos' calls. Naruto starts to run desperately trying to catch up to him.

After a while Naruto catches up to the boy and grabs his arm, turning him around, he's shocked when it is not Sasuke he sees but Itachi. He looked up at Itachi fearfully.

"I'm Sorry Itachi I thought you were Sasuke… what are you doing here anyway?"

"Can't a guy walk around here without getting followed by a brat like you?!"

"Hey! I said I was sorry I thought you were Sasuke I didn't mean to! What else do you want me to say?"

"Hn"

"Jerk" Naruto mumbled under his breath but Itachi heard it all the same

Suddenly Naruto found himself pinned to a tree but none other than Itachi.

"What did you call me, baka?!"

"No…noth…nothing Itachi, I didn't mean it, I swear"

"Better watch what you're saying next time haven't you then?"

"Yes Itachi"

"Good." And with that Itachi let go of Naruto and started to walk away.

"Hey, hey where are you going? Come back!"

"I'm getting away from you dobe." As soon as Naruto heard Itachi say dobe he froze. That was what Sasuke used to call him. Narutos eyes started to swell up with tears threatening to spill.

"It… Itachi" Naruto whispered barely audible.

"What now?"

"Why did you make Sasuke leave?" he paused. "I mean why did you have to do something so bad that Sasuke felt he had to get revenge, surely you're not that of a bad person."

"That's none of your concern. You shouldn't interfere in people business. Goodbye Naruto."

"Please don't leave stay with me; I don't want to be alone again."

"Why should I, I don't even like you." And with that he started to walk away, Naruto knew he couldn't stop him, so he went for an alternative. To follow Itachi to wherever he's going.

He did a few quick hand signs and hid his chakra efficiently and went on his way to figure out were Itachi is heading.

After a couple of hours walking Itachi stopped in a clearing and started to look around, Naruto hid perfectly making sure he wasn't caught spying on Itachi. Itachi decided it was safe to stop and rest as he quickly jumped up into a tree and leant again the trunk and swiftly closed his eyes, Naruto was sure though that Itachi was still on guard even in his sleep.

Naruto just stared and watch Itachi sleep, he looked so content but still guarded in his own way,

_I wonder if Sasuke sleeps as Itachi does, guarded, ready. _Naruto thought to himself. As he was thinking he didn't realise he was accidentally letting his chakra show. He suddenly heard a low grow coming from the tree Itachi was in he looked and there was Itachi, eyes open furiously staring straight at Naruto.

"Naruto!" Itachi growled loudly. Naruto whimpered slightly hiding stupidly behind a bush. "I can see you Naruto; I'm not as stupid as you may think."

"Heh, I don't think you're stupid Itachi-san."

"Why the hell have you been following me?"

"I told you Itachi I didn't want to be alone, I couldn't be alone, I just couldn't. I thought if you didn't know I was here it would be okay."

"And you thought you could get away with it without me knowing?"

"Well yeah, I thought it I stayed hidden and kept my chakra hidden I would be fine, and I would have succeeded too if I didn't get distracted!"

"Oh is that so baka? And I suppose what did you get distracted from?"

"None of your business"

"Oh come on Naruto, humour me, tell me what got you so distracted." Naruto looked down embarrassed.

"My thoughts." Naruto mumbled

"What were you thinking about hmm? Come on you've sparked my interest for now."

"I was wondering if Sasuke slept how you did, guarded, ready"

"Is that so? Well Naruto next time do not compare me with my weak little brother, I'm better than him"

"Sasuke is not weak! He's stronger than most!"

"Most is not me Naruto, I am stronger than him, by far, you should know that, or are you too stupid?"

"I'm not stupid, but your older you're going to be stronger, but he'll be stronger than you soon, and you know that or at least you should do."

"If you don't mind dobe, I would like to sleep, so get lost"

"Can't I please stay, I wont be a bother to you I promise, I'll just sit here, I don't want to go back now. I don't have training tomorrow either."

"And if I say no you're going to leave straight away."

"Well not actually I was kind of going to... Heh… Refuse?"

"Fine dobe you can stay here tonight but if you don't leave me alone tomorrow I'm going to force you, clear?"

"Yes Itachi-san, thank you" and with that Itachi closed his eyes and leant back on the tree trunk again and swiftly went back to his guarded, steady but peaceful sleep.

Naruto stared at Itachis sleeping form sighing to himself, wishing it was Sasuke there sleeping so close, so near that he could touch him, instead of this Itachi who if you were to touch him would surely cut off your hand, or at least would make you regret it. After just sitting there watching Itachi sleep, Naruto soon joined him and leant again the bottom of the tree and slept a long last _dreamless _sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:**BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi chapter two**

Naruto woke up to the shaking of the tree and far away bird songs; he looked up the shaking tree and found Itachi just about to jump down, ready to leave.

"Where you going Itachi?" Naruto asked

"Away from you"

"Your really mean, you know that?"

"That I do"

"Fine be like that" Naruto sticks out his tongue

"Stick your tongue out at me again and I'll cut it out"

"It's not like I swore at you" Naruto grumbled unhappily standing up and stretching.

"Still I keep my warning" with that Itachi started to walk of into the clearing.

"Hey! Wait up!"

"And why should I do that? I agreed you could stay with me the night then you said you would leave. Or are you now going back on that? If you are I will have to get rid of you by force as I'm sure I've said."

"Aw come on Itachi! Don't be so harsh, at least be a little nice"

"Nice is not what I am, dobe"

"I bet you could be though, think if you had a girl you liked would you be nasty to her? I don't think you would be."

"I don't think their would ever be a girl I liked and even if there was I wouldn't care if I was horrible or not, I can have anyone I want, its just a matter if there willing or have to be forced."

"That's horrible! How could you do that? You sick bastard!" Naruto yelled furiously, summoning up his courage and rage towards the older Uchiha.

Naruto suddenly found himself pinned to the ground with Itachi staring down on him, forcing all his weight on top of him, almost crushing him.

"Do you want to call me that again?"

Naruto shook his head silently willing himself not to speak.

"That's what I thought, dobe" Itachi got off Naruto. "Get up!"

Naruto stayed where he was until he felt a sharp kick in his stomach then he ever so slowly got up into a standing position, Itachi following his every move.

"Now come here."

"Why?" Naruto said with caution.

"Because Naruto, you've just sparked my interest again"

"What have I done now?"

"You honestly don't know?" Naruto shook his head.

"You truly are more stupid than I first thought, it's quite unbelievable really"

"I am not stupid!"

"Yes you are. Have you not realised all the stuff that I've done? How many people I've killed? And yet – Itachi laughs menacingly- you still are begging me to let you be around me, still throwing insults as if I'm harmless and not going to hurt you if you offend me, if you wasn't so stupid you would know not to mess with me, because you would know almost instantly I would hurt you if you even looked like you were going to do some of the things you just have been"

"Heh, uhhh does that mean your going to hurt me now?"

"No like I said you've sparked my interest. What I'm going to do is make a deal with you. If you can win against me in a battle properly then I will see you worthy of you coming along with me and you may stay with me and I will not harm you."

"And if you win?"

"Oh yes, if I win you must die, if you cannot beat me you are not worthy enough to keep alive."

"What! That's not fair! You can't kill me!" Naruto yells. "Not like you're going to win anyway." Naruto then mumbled under his breath. But Itachi still managed to here it.

"Ah we will see wont we? So do we have a deal, Naruto-kun?"

"I accept your deal, and don't call me Naruto-kun, it's creepy"

"So I see, so shall we begin?"

"Yeah! Ready to get your butt kicked Itachi?!"

"Oh no Naruto I'm the one who is going to lose, not to anyone, especially a baka like you."

Naruto gets an evil look in his eyes and grins.

"I hope you're ready." With that Naruto lunges at Itachi ready to kick him. But Itachi calmly dodges and takes a hit at Naruto in which Naruto only just dodges, this carries on for a while, Naruto and Itachi throwing punches and kicks at each other and only just missing or occasionally getting hit. Until Naruto suddenly uses his shadow clone jutsu and makes him and all his clones attack Itachi all at the same time, which one actually managed to hit Itachi, which caused his eyes to narrow his eyes in anger and then just went mad with his attacks and his sharigan used to full power.

After a couple of hours with Naruto panting on the floor and Itachi leaning against a nearby tree.

"Do you give up, Naruto-kun, and admit defeat?"

"You haven't won yet Itachi, and stop calling me that!"

Naruto started to slowly get up, forcing himself into an upright fighting position.

"Ah Naruto can't you see that you've lost? You can't win against me, no one can."

"I will not be defeat by you, I will win, and I am Uzumaki Naruto best ninja in Konoha!"

"You surely do not believe that do you, Naruto? From what I'd heard you where the worst ninja in Konoha, have you suddenly got stronger and become the best without me knowing? If so then Konohas' strongest ninjas are pathetic"

Naruto with his last ounces of strength ran at Itachi again and started doing various attacks at Itachi, with Itachi doing the same while both dodging each others attacks.

"Give up Naruto! You're not going to win!"

"I'm not going to lose to you!"

Itachi suddenly hit Naruto in the stomach with a very swift kick, causing Naruto to be winded and fall to the floor, breathless and hurt.

"You lose, Naruto-kun." Itachi inched closer to Naruto didn't say anything but Itachi proceeded in making him back away fearfully, knowing he couldn't win anymore, couldn't fight. "But I have to say, you are strong, you came close to winning, if you held up a little longer, you could have possibly won, you have a lot of stamina, Naruto-kun."

"Please Itachi, just kill me and get it over with, just please make it quick"

"Ahh Naruto-kun that is where you're wrong, it seems as if I have changed my mind, I don't think I will kill you at all now, but let you come with me and make you build your strength and then see what use you are to me, if you are of no use then I will kill you."

"I was wrong about you Itachi"

"Oh, and what were you wrong about?"

"You're not like Sasuke; Sasuke would never use me the way you are planning to."

"Ah I'm so glad you've realised I'm not like my weak little brother, you know, he couldn't even come this close to beating me, -Itachi crouched down leaning closer to narutos face- not like you did today"

Itachi pulled away from the frightened Naruto and stood up.

"Come on Naruto-kun lets go"

"Go where?"

"Home of course, dobe"

"Only Sasuke can call me dobe" Naruto whispered to himself, but like the rest of the times Itachi still heard him.

"I can call you what I wish, now get up and let's go!"

Naruto stood up on shaky legs and made his way over to Itachi, who grabbed his elbow, ensuring Naruto couldn't get way.

"And another thing, Naruto-kun is that from now on you must call me 'Master Itachi' or "Master Uchiha' got it?"

"I'm not some slave!"

"If that's what you wish to call this, then I must say you are."

"And what if I refuse to call you those names!?"

"That's simple, you will by punished"

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A/N: that's the 2nd chapter done, sorry I took so long, hadn't had time to write it, but I'm going to be updating much more often now, so yeah hope you liked this chapter, if you didn't then tell me what you didn't like and ill try correct it next time and improve, thanks to the people who did actually review the 1st chapter I do really appreciate it, it makes me smile anyways ill update soon. Bye 


	3. Chapter 3

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

**

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**

"Itachi I'm tired. Can we please stop?!?" Naruto whined annoyingly causing Itachi to sigh irritably.

"No Naruto we are not there yet, so no we cannot stop moving, we are on a time limit."

"Can't we just break it? I'm really tired and my feet hurt."

"You want to stop? As you wish Naruto." And with that Itachi swiftly picked up Naruto and threw him over his shoulder and carried on walking, smirking slightly and the younger boys' effort to get down.

"That's not what I meant and you know it, or are you really that stupid?"

Itachi stopped furiously and dropped Naruto so he was now on the ground sitting up and staring up at Itachi fearfully; Itachi slowly and menacingly put his foot on Narutos' stomach and pressed down hard.

Naruto had two options, one: resist of getting pushed down and stay sitting and get a very nasty bruise or two: get pushed down to lie flat on his back so that he wasn't resisting and still have a nasty bruise but not as bad.

Naruto chose option two and lies down so he was staring at the sky.

"Ah Naruto, what did I tell you before? Hmm didn't I say I would I would punish you if you disobeyed me or angered me?"

"NO! You said you would punish me if I didn't call you 'Master Itachi' or 'Master Uchiha'"

"And have you been calling me that?"

"No... But I'm sorry I didn't mean to not call you it, I forgot about it"

"Naruto I've seen you before and I know you don't give up this easily, have I truly broken you? Or are you playing helpless, thinking I would take pity on you?" Itachi pressed his foot down harder on his stomach, making Naruto gasp for breath.

"Itachi... I can't breathe please... let go... your hurting me."

Itachi lifted his foot off the boys' stomach and crouched down next to Narutos face.

"Naruto I will say this once and only once. If you disobey me, anger me, or do anything I dislike you will be punished, you are already going to get punished when we get back for disobedience and angering me, don't give me a reason to punish you worse, I assure you, you will not like it. Understood?"

"Y-Yes"

"Yes what?"

"Yes Master Uchiha"

"Good boy" Itachi ruffled Narutos hair and stood up and looked down at him. "Are you coming Naruto-Kun or do I have to force you again?"

Naruto was still gasping for breath, trying to get his heart to a normal pace, willing himself to get his strength back and stand up for himself like he always would before, but he couldn't find it in him, he was too scared of Itachi, he didn't know how to be strong in front of him, Itachi had already beat him, Naruto could not compare, he could only hope that after he was good and got trained, could beat Itachi and run away, that would mean that he would have to pretend to be good and do Itachis' ever whim just so in the end he could win and go back to where he belongs, away from where ever Itachi was leading him to.

"S-Sorry Master Uchiha, I was just catching my breath, I am coming"

Itachi waited patiently for Naruto to catch his breath and stand up. After about a minute he stood up slowly, as if in a lot of pain, and started to walk, with difficulty, over to where Itachi was standing.

"How badly did I hurt you Naruto-kun?" Itachi said casually.

"Not that bad, I'm fine really Master Uchiha" Naruto replied trying to hide the pain in his voice.

"Show me your stomach."

"I-I'm fine really, you don't have to worry about me."

"Naruto don't make me repeat myself. Show. Me. Your. Stomach. Now"

Naruto silently lifted up his shirt to show a large part of his stomach was beginning to bruise, Naruto looked at the bruise in surprise he honestly didn't think it would be that bad. Naruto went to pull his shirt down when Itachi suddenly grabbed his wrist stopping him from hiding the bruise again.

"It seems as I had hurt you quite bad, I didn't mean to use that much force." Itachis voice seemed to soften a bit when he looked at Narutos stomach.

"It's ok Master Uchiha; I will be fine I can handle It." To Narutos utmost surprise Itachi moved his hand and rubbed Narutos stomach, attempting to sooth it a bit.

"We can rest here Naruto-Kun until your bruise has calmed down a little, then we must move on."

"But what about that time limit, I don't want you to get into trouble."

"It will be fine, do not worry, just go and lie down."

Naruto silently lied down and tried to relax his muscles, and think of something to calm his nerves, he thought he was doing well in his submissive act, he thought Itachi might be believing him, soon he could stop being so submissive and beat Itachi, then go and find Sasuke again and bring him back. Naruto continued thinking his thoughts unaware of someone watching him think and relax.

Itachi sat down beside Narutos laying form and unconsciously started to play with the younger boys' hair, Naruto didn't seem to notice either he was too deep in thought. There was something about Naruto that made Itachi fascinated in him and for some reason there Itachi didn't want to hurt this sun-kissed blonde haired, azure eyed boy and that confused Itachi, he was supposed to be this heartless man, that killed his clan without regret and was supposed to use Naruto for his own evil plans instead of feeling soft around him, he had to break that, he needed to think like he did before and not let this boy get to him, he must carry on his plan for destruction.

Naruto still thinking of the past about how he and Sasuke were training together and all the times they got annoyed with each other, all the times when Naruto had a crush on Sakura when she was constantly mean to him and Sasuke continued to hate her, the last words he said to her before he left must have shattered her heart, Narutos heart shattered the most though, near enough everyone else in Konoha hated him except Sasuke, he liked him regardless of how he showed it, he did, and having his friend leave him shattered his heart to so many small pieces, and he left all because of this man who was beside him and had basically kidnapped him.

With those thoughts running through his mind he fell asleep unknown to the fact that Itachi was sitting beside him, stroking his hair and watching him, he didn't think of anything else than Sasuke and fell asleep.

Itachi watched him sleep and smiled slightly at the sight.

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A/N: And that's chapter three, I hoped you liked it, and I am really sorry I didn't get it up sooner but at least it's up. Anyways I hope at least some of you review, I appreciate it when people do, it lets me know what you readers think about it anyways that's chapter three hopefully I should be quicker on the next chapter, if I'm not you have the right to cyber hit me, I give you permission lol. Anyway bye bye x 


	4. Chapter 4

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

**In The Not-So Safe Arms Of Itachi Chapter Four**

Naruto woke up the next morning with Itachi sleeping next to him, with his hand tangled in his hair. He goes to sit up, without waking Itachi up, to find he can't, Itachi has made sure his head is stuck on the ground.

"Where are you going" Itachi growled out without opening his eyes.

"I was just going to stretch my legs Master Uchiha, and make us breakfast." Naruto explained uncertainly.

"Is that so? Well next time wake me up, before you try to get up, otherwise I might think you are trying to escape, and you don't want me to think that now do you?"

"Sorry Master Uchiha, I will know better next time."

"Good, we're not getting up yet, so lay back down"

"Yes Master"

"What no Uchiha at the end?"

"Yeah about that, I was wondering, would it be okay if I just called you master?"

"And why is that?"

"'Cause Master Uchiha is so long"

"I'll accept that, you may call me master, but around certain people, who I will tell you before hand, I will want you to call me Master Uchiha... Understood?

"Yes Master"

"Good, now then, time to get up. We have to carry on walking home." Itachi said getting up and stretching unnoticeably.

Naruto got up as well and stretched but unlike Itachi he was very obvious about it.

So there they stood side by side

"Okay lets go, we are already behind schedule."

Itachi goes to walk in front as Naruto silently nods his head, and follows obediently watching Itachi slyly while walking. _Heh__ Itachi must have forgotten about my punishment._

"Come on Naruto-kun, you need to keep up. Oh and another thing I haven't forgotten about your punishment, you will still receive it when we arrive home."

"What?!? That's so mean; I've been good all day!"

"Its 1:30 in the afternoon Naruto-kun, we got up at 11:30. So you haven't had time to play up. Now come on, or I'll double the punishment"

Naruto, slightly irritated, carries on following Itachi.

**Two hours later.**

"We're home." Itachi said rather loudly.

_Damn, wish we went slower. Damn Itachi and his fast pace. __Grr._

Itachi walked up to his front door and got out his key from his trouser pocket and swiftly opened the door and walked inside, Naruto still stood outside thinking.

"Naruto-kun" Naruto was broken from his thoughts by Itachi.

"Y-Yes Master?" Naruto stuttered.

"Come Here"

Naruto moved slowly and cautiously over to where Itachi was standing in the house and began to look around curiously, amazed at how big it was. Itachi grabbed Narutos chin gently and turned Narutos head so he was facing his 'Master'.

"I hope you're ready." Itachi murmured quietly.

"I'm as ready as I can be Master, but before I get punished may I ask you a question?"

"You just did, but carry on; I wish to know what you would like to ask."

"Why aren't you wearing your akatsuki cloak? Have you left the organization?"

"I'm not wearing the akatsuki cloak as I am on a break from missions, and I do not want to be recognised as an akatsuki member while I am on a break, I haven't left the organization and I highly doubt I will, I am happy where I am."

"So this is your house right? The one you stay at when you are on a 'break'"

"That would be correct Naruto-kun, aren't you clever?"

Naruto bowed his head, hiding his grin of accomplishment.

"Naruto-kun, I'm afraid to say it is time, follow me."

Itachi moved through the living room into the kitchen and then stopped outside an old wooden door. Naruto followed slowly behind and waited fearfully for Itachi to open the door and begin his punishment.

"When I open this door, you are not to run understand? If you do it will be a lot worse than you shall get now, remember I am going to go easy on you, Naruto."

"Yes Master, I understand fully. I will not run. I thank you for going easy on me as I'm sure I do deserve all that you give me for disobeying."

_Hmm Naruto is being far too obedient, I have watched him before, with that younger brother of mine and he was never this... obedient and... submissive, is this boy trying to trick me, it will not work, I can assure that, but then again maybe he knows how powerful I am and is just terrified so he feels he must obey me. I shall soon find out. _

Itachi looked at Naruto slyly, watching the uncomfortable stance he was in, moving from one foot to the next, waiting for that door to open nervously. Itachi looked back at the door and put his hand on the door knob, turning again to look at Naruto, who is now watching intensely. He twisted the knob and opened the door.

Naruto stood there, horror stricken. Inside that room was like a torture chamber, filled with chains and various weapons and torturing devices. Naruto slowly turned his head to look at Itachi, who was not showing any emotion to what he had just shown Naruto, Naruto then looked back to the room and just stood there. He wanted to run as fast as he could, away from this horrible place, but he knew he could not, Itachi would surely catch him and then the punishment would be worse, he did not want that, he didn't want any punishment, but it was inevitable, and Itachi said he would go easy on him, for that he was glad, however he was also uncertain as how gentle would Itachi call 'easy'

"In you go Naruto-kun" Itachi urged, realising Narutos reluctance to step into that room.

Naruto still stood there, immobilised with fear. He soon felt a hand at the small of his back, urging him to move forward, he stumbled a bit and moving slowly towards the room, the hand at his back still there, pushing him forward gently.

Once he and Itachi were in the room, Itachi shut and locked the door. Naruto turned around quickly at the sound of the door closing and whimpered quietly.

"Naruto go stand over by that far wall" Itachi said with no emotion in his voice.

"Yes Master" Naruto slowly began to walk over to the far wall, where he noticed connected to the wall, there were four lockable chains, and Naruto could only guess what was going to happen to him. Itachi followed him swiftly and once they got there Itachi began locking Narutos wrists and ankles into place.

Naruto again whimpered rather noticeably.

"Hush my kitsune, it won't be that bad, it will be over soon, but it's just to teach you a lesson, to teach you not to disobey." Itachi said while stroking Narutos cheek soothingly.

Naruto nodded his head shakily, letting a few frightened tears out.

Itachi stepped away from Narutos chain up form and walked over to a wall full of 'devices' and picked a rather painful whip.

"See this Naruto-kun? If I wanted to ruin your beauty to hurt you I would use this, but I cannot mark you like that. Instead I have a different approach to use; all you have to do kit is look at me."

"Then why are you looking me up?"

"You will be staying down here for a while; till I see you have learnt your lesson."

Naruto just bowed his head, refusing to speak.

"Let's begin this punishment." Itachi tilted Narutos head up and made him look directly into the Uchihas' eyes.

And then the Tsukuyomi was triggered, and the punishment has begun.

Naruto spent hours going through his worst nightmares and phobias, unable to stop them flowing through his mind. He felt completely helpless to stop it; images of Sasuke dying and hating him for it came across his mind, Kyuubi getting taken out of him, and killing everyone he loves, his whole village hating him and not wanting him, banishing him and eventually killing him, all these things and more ran across his mind, draining him to the point where he thought if this carries on he just might die. And then it stopped. Itachi tiredly looked over to Narutos slumped form and sighed.

_Maybe I was a bit harsh with that punishment. _Itachi thought. _ What the hell am I thinking! I'm Uchiha Itachi, nobody disobeys me, and he got what he deserved! _

With that last thought he left the room, leaving a drained and sobbing Naruto slumped chained to the wall.

Itachi went to his room, trying not to feel guilt which was trying to make itself known, and he fell asleep after a while.

A/N: here's chapter four for everyone, hoped you liked it and I want to thank everyone who reviewed and I want to thank the people who actually read it as well, it means a lot to me. Anywho I'll update soon-ish bye bye xx


	5. Chapter 5

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

**

* * *

In The Not So Safe Arms Of Itachi**** Chapter Five.**

The door to the room Naruto was in opened, and there by the door stood Itachi with a bowl of food and a cup of what looked like water, he walked over to where Naruto was still chained to the wall, since three days beforehand when Naruto first had his punishment.

"Naruto?" Itachi called out.

There was no reply.

"Naruto-kun, are you awake?"

Still there was no reply.

Itachi stepped a bit closer and bent down, so he could attempt to see Narutos face.

Suddenly Naruto whimpered, frightened, and started to sob again while trying to shuffle away, to get away from Itachi.

"Naruto, I'm not going to hurt you, calm down, I've brought you some food and some water."

"I-I-I'm N-not hungry." Naruto said through his sobs.

"You must be hungry Naruto-kun, you haven't had any food or water for the past two days, this is the first time I've came down. I want you to eat something."

"O-Okay Master."

Itachi took some food from the bowl, while tilting Narutos head up and brought the food to Narutos lips, which he opened obediently and Itachi, without saying a word, fed him.

Itachi carried on feeding him until the bowl was empty and the water was gone.

Itachi let go of Narutos chin and studied the younger boy silently, he looked broken and scared of him. Itachi raised his hand; Naruto flinched as if he thought Itachi was going to hit him, but Itachi instead gently place it on Narutos right cheek and began caressing it softly.

"I am truly sorry Naruto-kun, but it was only to teach you a lesson, and if you have truly learnt your lesson, I should in theory never have to punish you like that, do you understand Naruto?"

"Yes Master" Naruto said so quietly Itachi had to strain his ears to hear it.

"Come on let's get you out of this room, okay?"

"Thank you, Master"

Itachi unlocked the chain attached to Naruto, and gently lifted Naruto off the floor and into his arms.

Naruto only grunted slightly in pain but was otherwise quiet as he was being carried out of the 'torture' room.

Once Itachi and Naruto were out of the room, Itachi proceeded to take Naruto through the kitchen and up some stairs.

"Where are we going?" Naruto mumbled drowsily.

"To my room" Itachi said casually.

"What about my room?"

"My room is your room, for now anyway."

"Oh. Okay Master"

As Itachi was walking up the stairs Naruto suddenly went limp and unconscious out of exhaustion. Itachi stared down at him softly for a few moments before walking up the rest of the stairs and into his room. Once there Itachi gently placed Naruto on his bed and pulled the cover over him, letting him rest for a while in peace.

Itachi started to leave but was grabbed at the wrist of Naruto.

"Mm, don't leave me... please" Itachi heard Naruto mumble groggily.

He looked down thinking that Naruto was awake, but he wasn't. Naruto had grabbed him without being conscious.

_Was he dreaming about my __baka brother__ again? Or is he dreaming about me and really doesn't want me to leave? No matter I can't leave him now, I shall have to stay... God I sound intelligent in my head._ Itachi thought to himself, smiling slightly, in mild humour at him.

He carefully climbed into the bed with Naruto and lay on his side, with his head propped up on his hand.

_My god what has that kid done to me? I can barely think without him appearing in my thoughts, it has got to stop__, right now.__ I'm the all evil Uchiha Itachi! Not some soft hearted fool. I'M SUPPOSED TO BE DANGEROUS DAMN IT!!_

Itachi was suddenly brought out of his thoughts by a soft whimpering coming out of Narutos mouth, it made him sit up, thinking what to do, should he wake Naruto up?

He should, so he began calling to Naruto, willing him to wake up and when that didn't work, he began lightly shaking him lightly, but the whimpering only increased, and soon they started to turn into screams.

Itachi had started to panic. _Why won't he wake up? How do I wake him up? _

Naruto started to thrash around, tears streaming down his face; seeming to try to get away from whatever was haunting him.

Itachi suddenly thought of an idea which would surely wake up Naruto from his nightmare.

He got of the bed and quickly headed into the bathroom, in there he got a bucket and filed it about half way with water and carried it back into the bedroom.

_I'll shake him one more time, if he does not wake up to that, he's going to wake up shocked and very, __**very**__ wet. _Itachi grinned deviously and perhaps a bit perversely, thinking about how that sentence could be taken the wrong way, very easily.

So Itachi walked back to the bed, bucket in hand, put it down and shook Naruto, quite hard, but he only thrashed harder, trying to get away.

_Heh. This shall be funny ... get ready to be wet Naruto._

Itachi picked up the bucket, tested the weight in his hand, swinging it to get more speed, and then suddenly let go.

Naruto sat up so fast you didn't actually see him move, but instead a blur.

"What the hell?!?" Naruto yelled angrily at Itachi.

"You were having a nightmare, and couldn't wake you up" Itachi responded in his now calm and oh so casual voice.

"So you pour cold water over me!?!" Naruto looked at him furious.

"I tried calling you, shaking you, what else was I supposed to do? Just sit there and watch it happen? I did the only thing I could think of."

"Oh." Naruto looked down, shivering.

"What was it about?"

"What was what about?"

"Your nightmare, baka"

"Oh... that...Um, I can't remember? No reason to worry about it now."

"Lair"

"I'm not lying, I swear it."

"I know a lie when I see one, and I know you do remember, because you're still tense, either you are still bothered by your nightmare, or you are afraid that I will find out what it was about, which is it, hmm?"

"I'm not tense!"

Itachi moved closer to Naruto and pressed his hands to the boys shoulders, and then down his back.

"If you are not tense, then why are your shoulders knotted, and you back so upright and rigid, is that not tension?"

Naruto whimpered slightly and moved away.

Itachi sighed, folding his hands across his chest. "Now tell me. What was it about Naruto, remember do not disobey me, you know what will happen if you do. Oh and what happened to calling me master? " Itachi demanded, quickly getting angry.

"Sorry Master, I forgot as I was woken up so abruptly, I forgot everything, please don't punish me. Well um the dream...nightmare was about you."

"Me?" Itachi sounded utterly shocked. _He had a nightmare about me?_

Naruto just nodded his, not saying a word.

"What did I do?"

"Do we have to discuss it tonight? I am cold and tired and would like a warm shower, and then go back to resting, that's of course, if you would not mind Master."

"I want to know, why you were thrashing and crying and I want to know what I had to do with it."

"Please Master; please don't do this, not tonight. I beg of you."

"Why not tonight, why are you so reluctant to tell me, hmm? Do you fear punishment? I assure you, Naruto, you will not be punished for your nightmare, as you could not have controlled it."

"I do not wish to speak about it tonight, please don't make me."

"Go have your warm shower, you so wished to have!" Itachi growled menacingly.

"Thank you Master, I am truly grateful."

"Get out now! Before I change my mind"

Naruto quickly got a towel and scurried out of the room, not looking back at the now furious Itachi.

Once he made it into the bathroom, he turned on the shower, to the right temperature, and began to take off his dripping wet clothes off his cold skin, he got in the shower, warming up his body instantly, it was almost too much, nearly too much contrast and close to just that side of burning.

He washed, warmed up and relaxed, only then did he get out and wrap the towel securely round his waist, and only then did he realised, he didn't have any other clothes with him, except the ones he came in with, and he wasn't going to wear them again, they were filthy.

He realised he would have to talk to Itachi, about some new clothes, he realised, he would have to ask Itachi to let him borrow him some clothes, and he only had a towel to cover himself... how embarrassing.

He slowly walked out of the bathroom and cautiously walked into the bedroom, he saw Itachi with his head down, sitting on the bed, where he was at when he had left.

"Um" Naruto cleared his throat and tried again "Um... Master Itachi?"

"What do you want?" Itachi said without looking up at him.

"Well I was kind of wondering if I could... borrow some clothes... I don't have any." Naruto said uncomfortably.

Itachis head shot up startled, as soon as his head was facing Naruto his eyes instantly wondering to his chest, where it was still wet, and lower down his stomach, until he got to the part of Narutos body that was covered by that towel, it seemed he couldn't look away, as if in a trance of some sort.

_Is wrong that I want to snatch up that hideous towel and see what was underneath, should I even be thinking about it, no I shouldn't, I told myself this early, I cannot go soft, I mean, come on he's a brat, a hot br-Wait! No I can't and won't think that! I __think__ I might be sex deprived, Ahh this is so confusing._

"Umm, master?" Naruto called uncertainly and succeeded to interrupt his thoughts and made him look up.

"Oh yea, there's some clothes you can use in the wardrobe over there, then you can rest, if you wish"

"Thank you master." Naruto replied, and started to walk to the wardrobe, where he picked out an oversized t-shirt and a small pair of black boxers, but couldn't find a pair of pyjama bottoms that would fit him, but the shirt came down to his thigh, so it covered everything that needed to be covered.

He quietly went over to the bed, and got under the covers, as best he could as Itachi was still sitting there, and fell into a deep sleep, almost instantly, leaving Itachi to think to himself, about what just happened to him today.

* * *

A/N: Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a while, my internet fucked up, so this is the first time I've had internet since I finished, this one was quite long, if you thought it was too long just tell me and I'll try not to let my fingers carry me away so much next time, but yea that's chapter 5, hope you liked it. I also want to thank everyone who reviewed, means a lot, as you probably know and getting a bit annoyed I keep mentioning it, sorry, I'll leave you now. Hopefully I'll update soon, but with this shit internet I can't promise anything. Bye bye xx 


	6. Chapter 6

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Six **

A/N: Hey everyone! I'm updating again. How's everyone? Today I'm going to start with something different; I'm going to start this chapter in Itachis POV... anyway enjoy.

Itachi POV

I just sat there watching the sleeping Naruto, he didn't seem to be having that nightmare again, and he was perfectly still. I really wanted to know what it was about; I know it was about me, but what, what I did in that dream that was so horrible I do not know. For some reason I keep feeling guilty about what I did to him, in the punishment room, I didn't really have to do that, did I? I could have done something that wouldn't, oh I don't know, destroy him so much, emotionally I mean. I'll think of another punishment suitable, if I see Naruto deserves it. I do hope it doesn't come to that.

I down to the kitchen and got a bowl of fruit for when Naruto wakes up, he needs to eat regular fruit as he had no food, for three days during the punishment. He lost a bit of weight, which he needs to put back on.

I wonder why he was so emotionally destroyed, surely Kyuubi could have kept him sane, unless I broke Kyuubi as well, that would be... strange, I mean he _is _a nine-tailed fox _demon_, he should be very hard to break or maybe the reason is because, Kyuubi knew it wouldn't kill Naruto so felt no reason to keep him from breaking down.

I went back up to the bedroom, where Naruto was _still_ sleeping. I sat the bowl down on the bedside table, and sat next to Naruto on the bed and continued to stare at him, why was I so fascinated with him? I just couldn't get my head round it, I'm not supposed to feel like this, every since I first hurt him I've felt like this, I was supposed to use him, for my destruction, and make him join the akatsuki organisation. He was going as he would say my slave, I was going to break him so bad, he would never disobey me, but I'm now uncertain, I feel all soft when I'm around him, I don't want to hurt him, but it seems I have, but even that confuses me, I had watched him for quite a long time, before when I had first tried to kidnap him for the akatsuki, and as far as I could have seen he was quite hard-headed.

Have I really broken him? I need to be sure. What is the one thing I can do that would make him so angry normally, that if I were to say/do I could see if he is truly broken. I don't have the slightest clue, I didn't watch him long enough, and I need someone who knows a lot about him.

Hang on... someone who knows a lot about him... I think I've got it, I can say something about that baka brother of mine Sasuke and see how he reacts, I can go out for a day, and come back and say I've killed him, PERFECT! If he goes all mad then I know I haven't broken him and need to try harder, but if he accepts it I know I have broken him, and then I guess that's that.

Right I'll do that soon, but first I need someone to watch over him, so he doesn't run, I would find him if he did anyway, but I don't want the hassle.

I might need to get Kisame, but I don't fully trust him with Naruto, hmm Sasori? (A/N: Sasori is alive in this ff ) nope don't trust him either, make dead people puppets, hmm who else? How about Deidara? He hates me, and plus he was not a willing member into the akatsuki so he may try help Naruto escape. I guess I will have to trust my partner Kisame, if I gave him specific orders he will follow them, for fear of me getting angry at him.

"I need to get Kisame" I said to myself.

I looked down to where Naruto was _still _sleeping. Is he okay? It's been quite a while; he should be up by now.

I gently placed my hand on his forehead, checking his temperature, it was perfectly fine, and I realised, Naruto was unconscious, but why?

He continued to watch Narutos sleeping form, willing him to wake up soon, and let him be alright.

Suddenly I heard Naruto make a pained groan and twisted a little bit, was he waking up? Or was he having the nightmare again?

When he wakes up the first thing I want to know about is that nightmare of his, I feel horrible about it, because it is about me. And he seemed so haunted by it, so frightened. I must know why, no matter what.

**Narutos POV.**

Kyuubi has me in an unconscious state since I fell asleep, apparently to help me recover. Bullshit it's done nothing for me, accept I feel more rested. Oh god, Itachi wants to know about my dream/ nightmare today. How do I get him away from the subject? Maybe he's already forgotten about it.

I hope he has forgotten.

I suddenly felt a cold hand on my forehead, must be Itachis.

I thought I shouldn't be able to feel anything... apparently I can.

After a while I heard Kyuubi telling me to wake up, if I sleep any longer he won't be able to control anything. I don't want to wake up, I'll have to face Itachi and tell him my dream and then he'll get all upset and then angry and then he'll punish me or get all withdrawn and throw me away and then I can't get stronger and use it against him and to bring Sasuke back... as much as I hate to admit it, I have my own plans that I need Itachi for, I'm using his plan to my advantage, I need him to train me so I have enough power to bring back Sasuke, and kill Itachi, but maybe I don't have to kill Itachi, just maybe he'll realise I'm stronger and let me go without a fight.

Even I doubt that, but it could happen, maybe, it's not impossible.

I didn't want to wake up. Not now, not until I'm away from this place.

A sudden pain shot through my stomach and I groaned loudly and metaphysically twisted a bit, not actually knowing it was happening in my body and knowing it was one of Kyuubis ways of telli- no making me wake up.

I was awake, but I didn't open my eyes, I didn't want Itachi to know I was awake, I'm going to try to 'be asleep' all day, and stay completely still, then I can delay the time I have to tell Itachi about my nightmare. This is going to be easy. Heh I can do this.

I just realised, Itachi was stroking my hair soothingly, why? I thought I was only this object for destruction, but this is too close to the way a lover strokes their loves hair after sex, it took all my will power and control not to shudder or open my eyes or sit up and to stay completely still, controlling my actions as not to give myself away.

Just as I finished that thought, my stomach **growled**, it ruined everything, I was doing so well, _damn it!_ Maybe if I still keep my eyes closed he'll think it happened it my sleep, yes that's what I'll do.

Itachi stopped stroking my hair, and I could feel his eyes staring at me, and I willed myself to stay absolutely motionless, I cannot let him know I'm awake, I must 'be asleep.' He put a hand to my chest, over my heart... what the hell was he doing!? Oh my god he's checking my hearts speed, I've just blown it all to hell! Must be calm, maybe he hasn't noticed.

"Naruto-Kun I know your awake, now, open your eyes, I'm not stupid."

Damn it, Damn it, DAMN IT!

I slowly and reluctantly open my eyes and as soon as my eyes I saw Itachi.

**Normal POV.**

Itachi was hovering over Naruto, looking down on him, Itachis hand still on his chest over his heart.

"Mm, Morning Master." Naruto said in a fake tired voice.

"You mean afternoon. Its two o'clock. Also I know you're not tired, so cut the act." Itachi responded irritably.

"Sorry Master." Naruto said fearfully. "Master can I have some food?"

"I have some fruit for you"

"Thank you"

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun"

Naruto mentally shivered at his little nickname.

Naruto started to slowly eat his bowl of fruit, trying to delay the inevitable.

"Why so slow today, Naruto-kun?" Itachi asked slyly, knowing full well why.

"Oh. Um I'm just savouring the taste, of this delicious fruit!" Naruto sounded too enthusiastic; Itachi knew it was a cover up.

"Is that so? Well you don't need to savour it, as you'll be having it every day."

"E-Every day, you mean I'll be having this fruit every day?"

"Yes every day."

"What else?"

"Just fruit, nothing else Naruto, oh and of course water, can't let you get dehydrated now can we, ne?"

"Bu-Bu-But what about ramen!?"

"Did you honestly think I would let you eat ramen in this house?"

"I have to have it! I go crazy otherwise!! You can't deprive me of ramen, I'll do anything!"

"Hm... anything you say?" Itachi grinned devilishly at Naruto.

"Why do I think your thinking about something perverted?"

"Ah you catch on quick Naruto-kun, but what happened to calling me master? It seems you have forgotten again."

"Ah sorry master, I won't forget again!"

Itachi stayed silent, Naruto waited and then went back to eating his bowl of fruit.

Once Naruto had finished it Itachi grabbed the bowl and walked out without a word, presumably to the kitchen. He came back sitting opposite Naruto.

"So... Naruto-kun... tell me about this dream or nightmare or whatever the hell it was... just tell me about it, like for example. What it was about, what I had to do with it etc, etc."

* * *

A/N: That's chapter six, hope you all liked it, was a bit crappy in my opinion, but it will get better. I'm sorry I haven't told you about the nightmare yet, I know some of you want to know what it's about, but I realised, I didn't ask any of you what your comfortable with, and I don't want to offend anybody, so you guys tell me what you want and I'll see what you people say you want the most, and then I'll do that. Ok hopefully I'll update soon, but as I've said before my internet is really temperamental. But I thank everyone for the reviews (I'm thinking of even mentioning you people on the story thanking you) and for all of you being really patient, but I must love you and leave you bye xx 


	7. Chapter 7

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Arms O****f Itachi Chapter Seven**

Naruto was silent; refusing to speak.

"Well?" Itachi said calmly.

Naruto opened his mouth to speak but hesitates for a while and finally after a couple of seconds closes his mouth. He looked down at the ground below him and managed to mumble something inaudible.

"What was that Naruto? I didn't quite catch that, I'm getting rather impatient."

Naruto looked up to face Itachi and he saw the impatient stare directed harshly at him.

"I said... You hurt me." Naruto looked down again.

"What?!?" Itachi looked outraged. "When, I haven't hurt you! Not on purpose yet."

"No, no, no! I mean in my dream, in my dream you hurt me."

"Tell me more."

Naruto refused to look up at Itachi. "Well I was in this room just sitting there and I was thinking about Konoha and you suddenly came barging in. You were so mad. You started screaming at me, telling me I was worthless, useless even, and that no would ever care for me. You started hitting me in the stomach, and kicking me, pulling my hair, everything you could think of to try and hurt me. I was so scared, you wouldn't stop, you were in such a rage, and you didn't get tired. I was telling you to stop but you wouldn't, if anything you hit harder. Finally you stopped hitting me, and went out of the room, I thought it was over, but you came back with a knife, rope and Sasuke." Naruto stopped talking and cleared his throat, trying to swallow the lump that had risen on his throat, ready to carry on. He sneaked a glance at Itachis face, and saw it was as emotionless as he could make it. _I can't even tell what he's thinking. Damn him being able hide his emotions so well._

"I don't think that's all, do you Naruto?" Itachi said to Naruto.

"No that is not the whole of the dream; do you want me to carry on then?"

"Yes I want to hear the whole of it."

"After you brought the things in you tied me and Sasuke up to separate chairs and said to Sasuke that you were going to kill me, because I was the only one he cared about, and you didn't want Sasuke to have anyone he cared about. You started to cut my skin, shredding the clothes with it, slowly running the knife down my skin, digging deeper and deeper while I was pleading for my life, but you wouldn't stop, you seemed to enjoy my pleas for you to stop, made you excited, Sasuke was sat watching in horror what was happening, he didn't move, didn't speak. You were telling me I was a monster, I didn't deserve to live, and no one would miss me, no one important. My blood was soaking the chair underneath me and the pain was horrible. You finally stopped running the knife down my skin and raised the knife just above my chest, it came diving downwards, but before it hit me I woke up." By now Naruto was crying hard. "There. That was the dream. Are you happy now?"

Itachi was silent, staring at Naruto.

"Say something, please" Narutos voice was choked with tears, and desperation.

"I'm sorry." Itachi said and swiftly walked out of the room. Naruto sat there dumbfounded, before quickly going out and following him.

"What do you mean you're sorry?"

"I mean I'm sorry you had that dream, I do not know what I've done to make you think of such things, except that once I would have done it."

"And you would not do it now?"

"No I wouldn't, not now"

"Why though?"

"I'm not obliged to answer that, and remember Naruto-kun, I am still master here, remember the rules?"

"I remember... Master" Naruto replied rather hesitantly.

"Good boy, now Naruto, I'm going away for a couple of days, I'm sending Kisame over to watch over you, do not try to escape or play up, I will know if you do and you will be punished for it. Understood?"

"Yes master, but master, where are you going? Why aren't I coming with you? I thought you were on a break from the Akatsuki missions"

"That is none of your business, and anyway you will find out soon enough."

Naruto and Itachi ended up in the kitchen where they both sat down, Itachi with his head on his table and with Naruto look curiously. Naruto carefully placed his hand on Itachis back.

Itachi shot up, looking at Naruto angrily.

"How can you still stand to touch me? Just now your told me your nightmare that was about me! Aren't you terrified that will happen? Have you forgot I kidnapped you practically, took you from your precious home, yet you still try to comfort me. I don't understand you!"

Naruto was shocked, he sat there opening and closing his mouth.

"I-I- I thought, you might need it, it wasn't your fault I had that dream, I-I'm sorry." Naruto stuttered out. _I also don't want to get on the bad side of you. _Naruto added wordlessly.

"I'm going to bed, I have an early start tomorrow, come on." Itachi said, his anger gone. Naruto stood up and followed him to the bedroom where they both got undressed and climbed into the bed. He lay there, motionless, waiting for Itachi to fall asleep, Naruto wasn't tired.

Itachi suddenly wrapped one of his arms around Narutos waist. Naruto visibly tensed, but quickly forced himself to relax.

Itachi was asleep and Naruto followed soon after.

* * *

A/N: Oh My God! I'm so sorry I took soo long; I couldn't think of an idea for this chapter, it's out now though, I hoped you liked it. If I've offended anyone with this post then I am really sorry, I tried to think of something that would be less offensive, and that's what I came up with. I thank you for all the reviews you give me. Any way next update will be better and sooner since I pretty much know what I'm doing lol. Any way sorry for the wait and the next chapter will be up soon. Bye bye xxx 


	8. Chapter 8

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms o****f Itachi Chapter Eight**

A/N: Again I'm going to start in Itachis POV, so hope you like!

Itachi POV

I woke up early this morning, Naruto was still asleep, and I was not about to wake him up. I slowly and carefully removed my arm from this blonde haired boy's waist. I sat there for a few seconds, propped up on my elbow, watching Naruto sleep... and slightly drool on my bed. I shrugged, not really caring, too early to think or care, that's what I think, and I got out of bed, and did my unnoticeable stretch.

I went down to the kitchen to see Kisame had already let himself in and was helping himself to drink.

"You're here early, Kisame" I called out to him, while resting on the doorframe. He jumped upon hearing my voice so unexpectedly.

"Yes, of course I am. _You told me to come early_." He replied most seriously

"That I did, that I did." I got off the doorframe and made my way over to the kitchen sink and made myself a drink of water. I swiftly drank and put away my glass.

"I'll be going now Kisame" I said already halfway out the door. I looked back to see him grinning mischievously. "Oh and Kisame, if you do anything to Naruto while I'm gone, you're going to wish you hadn't, clear? I called over my shoulder.

"Yes Itachi-san, of course, he'll be safe with me." Kisames slightly shaking voice met my ears.

"good." I walked out the door. I turned back to look at my house for a few seconds, and then proceed my mission.

Narutos POV.

I woke up late this afternoon to see that Itachi was not in bed with me, which I guess wasn't really strange; I presume he's down in the kitchen. Once I was in the kitchen there, sitting at the kitchen table was not Itachi but Kisame; I guess Itachi had already left for his mission... _Thanks for saying bye to me_.

Kisame saw me in the doorway and motioned for me to sit down. I slowly made my way over to the furthest chair away from him and sat down.

"What's wrong, Brat? Scared?" Kisame said grinning with his shark-like teeth.

"Shut it, shark features, I'm not scared." Naruto barked grumpily.

"OI, Brat, watch what you're saying, I could get you punished so bad if I wanted to."

I stuck my tongue at him childishly. I didn't like Kisame, not one bit.

"Brat, I can do that to." And Kisame, yes Kisame, stuck _HIS_ tongue out at me.

"Immature" I murmured under my breath, I stood up and went over to the sink to get some water.

Kisame just sat there with a rather comical confused expression on his face. I mentally laughed.

"So, kid, what you going to do while your _dear master_ is away, eh?"

"Stay away from you that's for sure"

"Watch what you're saying brat!"

"Yes ok, whatever you say Kisame-_san_" With that I went back into mine and Itachis room.

_Damn Itachi, it's his fault I'm grouchy, I don't trust Kisame. Stupid fish features. Itachi didn't have the decency to say good bye to me, not that I care, I don't like him either. I guess he is better than Kisame though. _My thoughts were rapidly growing angry at Itachi and pretty much everything for no reason.

I lay down on the bed and just stared at the ceiling.

I soon got bored. I sat up and let my thoughts wander about everything that has happened so far.

I wondered how Sasuke was doing, where ever he was. He probably hates me and has no idea what's going on.

I wondered if the people in Konoha missed me or where even looking for me. I hope so.

I wondered if I was ever going to get away from Itachi and go back to Konoha. Would they welcome me back though?

I wondered if I was going to have to stay with Itachi. What would happen?

I came out of my thoughts to the door opening; I looked up and say Kisame with a bowl of various fruits.

"Itachi told me you were on a strict fruit and water diet so eat up." Kisame said, placing the bowl in front of me.

"Thank you, Kisame-san." I said quietly, it seemed I didn't have the energy to be nasty; those thoughts took a lot out of me.

"Hm, what's this? Being nice now Naruto-kun?"

I shrugged and Kisame walked out, I slowly ate the food provided, for some strange reason I just didn't have a big appetite at the moment.

I wonder where Itachi is right now...

WHY THE HELL AM I THINKING ABOUT THAT BASTARD?!

I finished the bowl of fruit and went into the kitchen to put it in the sink, I went to walk out of the kitchen and back into mine and Itachis room when Kisame grabbed my arm.

"Hey, brat, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'll be in mine and masters room" I said shrugging his hand off my arm.

"Fine then... Temper mental kid." I heard him mutter under his breath.

Once in my room, I again lay on the bed.

I hope Itachis back soon.

And I slowly drifted off to sleep, with that thought floating in my head.

Kisames POV

That is one weird kid, first he's all sarcastic and mean, and then he's all quiet and emo.

What the hell is Itachi thinking anyway? Itachi doesn't need a brat like him.

Hopefully I can get that brat killed, tell Itachi what that brat said to me, and bend the truth a little, Itachi won't know.

I Know! I can tell Itachi that that brat tried to escape and it was lucky I caught him doing it. That will surely get him killed, or at least seriously punished, and maybe Itachi will let me help kill/punish that boy, I would rather enjoy doing it as well.

Although I don't like the brat, he is rather pretty... if only he was a girl.

That brat had gone back upstairs yet again, what the hell is he doing? Masturbating?!

I laughed at myself, like he anything to masturbate about, unless he's gay and likes Itachi.

I'm going to see what he's doing. I walked up to Itachis and that brat's room and found him asleep.

"Aww how cute" I said to myself sarcastically.

"I better go back downstairs, Itachi will be home shortly"

After hours of waiting Itachi finally came home at 3 o'clock in the morning.

"I'm back Kisame, how was Naruto-kun?" Itachi said emotionlessly.

"U-um, Itachi-san, I don't want to tell you this but, well, he tried to escape, I caught him luckily. He was rather rude to me as well, calling me shark features." I told him with a straight face, while inside I mentally grinning.

"Oh really? Well I'll see to it that he gets punished, where is he anyway?"

"He's asleep in your room Itachi-san."

"I'll punish him in the morning; you can go now Kisame, thank you for your help."

With that Itachi went upstairs, presumably to sleep.

I left shortly after. Laughing quietly to myself as I walked.

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A/N: There you have Chapter 8. Hope you all liked! Again I'm sorry I took so long, I'm not very good at updating fast am I? Lol I will get better, but I just sometimes find it hard to think of an idea. Anyways I'll update as fast as I can on chapter 9. Hope you liked this chapter. Bye . xx 


	9. Chapter 9

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms ****o****f Itachi Chapter Nine**

After Kisame left, Itachi sat on the bed next to where Naruto was sleeping and stared at the boy.

"Naruto, I told you not to play up, I didn't want to have to punish you. I guess I have to now." Itachi whispered to himself. For some reason he seemed to be wierdly attracted to Narutos hair and began to thoughtlessly stroke Narutos hair; it was as soft as ever.

"How shall I punish you then Naruto-kun? Was the last punishment not good enough? Am I that bad to stay with that as soon as I'm gone, you try to escape? I can't believe that, I've been trying to be nice to you, and this is how you repay me?" Itachi grew angrier and angrier after every question he asked himself.

He stood abruptly. He'd forgotten about the plan.

_I'll tell little Naruto that Sasukes dead, and then punish him. Wait, no that might not work, he could go off the wall and he'll think he's getting punished for that, what I'll do is punish him THEN say Sasukes dead. Ha-ha I'm so evil. _Itachi smiled slightly, the truth was about to be told.

Meanwhile while Itachi was thinking, Naruto had woken up and was watching Itachi intensely.

"Mm. Good morning Master." Naruto grumbled sleepily.

Itachi looked up and looked over at the boys' direction.

"Is it a really a good morning, Naruto-kun?" Itachi growled.

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"I heard what you did Naruto-kun, Kisame told me everything"

"But Master he called me brat first, bet he didn't tell you that did he? Master if he called you a brat, would you call him something as well? It just came out, I'm sorry; I wasn't nasty to him after that I swear." Narutos voice was panic stricken at the thought of being punished again.

"You tried to escape as well didn't you Naruto?"

"N-NO! I didn't I swear, I was in this room the whole day! I promise!"

"Lair. Kisame told me. He caught you doing it!"

"No I swear he's lying. He hates me! I didn't try, please, please don't hurt me. I didn't do it!" by now Naruto had tears streaming down his face and was clinging on to Itachis arm desperately.

_Who am I supposed to believe? Kisame my partner, who I've known him longer, and has never once, lied to me before. Or should I believe Naruto, his face looks so sincere and truthful, but I don't him as well as Kisame, I kidnapped him, so him trying to escape is most likely, I mean who wouldn't try to. _Itachis thoughts leaned more towards Kisame for the simple fact that Kisame was his partner and Naruto was his, as you could say... victim.

"I'm sorry Naruto, I don't believe you. Come on." Itachi said emotionlessly. Shaking Naruto off his arm he walked out the door.

Naruto followed Itachi quietly in defeat to that one place he never wanted to go again. As he walked fear shot up his spine and he resisted the urge to run out of the room, or try doing something to get out of going to that horrible place, but Naruto knew it would only cause him more trouble if he did.

"Things are going to be a bit different Naruto, since obviously my last punishment wasn't harsh enough. I want you to stand over there facing the wall this time." Itachi said menacingly pointing in the same direction as last time.

Once again Naruto was secured in place by the very same chains. All Naruto had to do was stand there and wait and he did just that, he had to, he waited and waited only to be returned with silence which caused his panic to almost take over him, it felt like he was about to fall apart with ever silent second that passed.

Finally behind him the silence when replaced with Itachis voice echoing off the walls.

"I hope this time you'll learn your lesson, I hope you're ready" Itachi said calmly.

Naruto heard Itachis footsteps come closer to him and he tensed anticipating what was to come. He wasn't sure what was going to happen but he knew it was going to hurt.

"Wait! M-Master!" Naruto called to Itachi.

"Yes Naruto?"

"Are you locking me down here again?" Narutos voice was laced with fear and he flinched when he heard Itachi take a deep breath, about to speak.

"Probably." Just that one word was enough to make Naruto start crying once again, he didn't want to stay down here, he didn't try to escape. He was innocent.

Itachi spoke again.

"I'm going to start the punishment now. Maybe this time it'll be enough to knock some sense into you so you don't do stupid things again."

"I understand Master"

_There's no use trying to plead my innocence he won't believe me, I mean why would he? I'm just the little pet that he's kept for his games and Kisames his partner. _Naruto had truly given up on getting Itachi to believe him.

Naruto had a moment of silence before something whistled through the air and hit his back at full force; he arched his back and bit his lip to prevent himself from making any noise, not wanting Itachi to see him as weak.

In quick succession the next hit was being delivered with Naruto on the receiving end, he fought tremendously to be silent but after a while it hurt too much to, he had to make some sort of noise.

After half an hour the beating was still carrying on, Itachi was restless and releasing all his pent up frustration into beating the small blonde haired boy.

"I told you not to play up for Kisame! What did you do? Go ahead and do it anyway! Worst of all you tried to escape; do you think I would have just let it slide?! HUH NARUTO?! ANSWER ME!" Itachi practically screamed at the boy, but the boy had no strength to reply, he couldn't form any words to come out of his throat, all he could manage was a cry of pain, but that wasn't what Itachi wanted and it only made him angrier, hitting Narutos back harder.

By now Naruto was crying in agonising pain and couldn't stop. He tried to answer Itachi several times and finally managed to get something other than a pain filled cry out of his sore and abused throat.

"I-I-I d-d-didn't do I-I-it"

"Lair!" Itachi hissed harshly.

"I-I-I s-sw-swear I-I d-d-didn't" Naruto couldn't stop crying, the pain was unbearable.

"On what, what do you swear on eh?" Itachis rage made him fail to see the blood that was running freely across Narutos skin and covering what was left of his shirt.

"O-On S-Sasuke"

Itachi froze at those words. He knew enough by now that Naruto wouldn't swear on Sasuke if he wasn't telling the truth, unfortunately for Itachi, Sasuke meant the world to Naruto.

Naruto tried to calm his breathing; If he didn't he was going to pass out any moment now.

"What did you say Naruto?" Itachi said with a light tremble in his voice, all traces of anger gone.

"I-I S-swear on S-Sasukes L-life" Naruto whispered so quietly itachi had to strain his ears to make out the words.

Naruto heard something fall to the floor and footsteps coming towards him at an increasingly fast pace, till he saw his chains unlocking, and arms catching before he fell.

"You didn't do it, you didn't do it." Itachi was repeated over and over again.

"I tried to tell you" Naruto whispered weakly, before falling unconscious in Itachis arms.

"I'm so sorry Naruto-kun; I'll make sure Kisame pays for what he put you through, I promise, I'll make it all better, never will I do that again to you." Itachi spoke to the unconscious boy and hugged him to his chest, being careful of the wounds on the blondes back.

Itachi carried the unconscious Naruto up into the bedroom and laid him on his stomach and cleaned the drying and fresh blood over his back and then proceeded to bandage him up.

After he finished he went and put the bloodied towel in the wash and then went to sleep in the guest room beside his room, deciding it would be best if he didn't go near Naruto, he was probably scared to death of him.

_I swear Kisame you're going to pay. NO ONE makes me hurt __**my**__ Naruto and gets away with it!

* * *

_

A/N: Here's Chapter Nine! So far this is the fastest I've updated lol. Hope you all liked it. I know it's a bit mean but I think it fits with the story... well I hope it does anyway. Thank you everyone who reviewed, like I've said before: they mean a lot to me . anyways here's chapter nine hope you liked. Bye-bye xx


	10. Chapter 10

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointless trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Ten**

Itachis POV.

_I can't believe Kisame would do that. _Itachi thought in rage. _Naruto's going to hate me, I can't believe I did that to him, I should have believed him. _

Itachi stared helplessly at the guest room ceiling, wishing he hadn't punished his Naru-chan. Itachi had a look of such regret on his face, it was really unbelievable. Was Itachi, the all evil Akatsuki member, going soft? Because of a young boy?! It was unheard of, but yet it seemed it was true, Naruto had made an impact on this Akatsuki member and Itachi didn't like it.

From the room next door, Itachis room, Itachi heard a groan. _Naruto must be up, should I go see if he's alright? _Itachi thought sadly. _What if he's scared of me, and flinches away fro__m __m__e__, I don't think I will be able to stand that, but then again what if he needs major help, and I can do that while earning his trust back. Right I've decided. I'm going in there! _Itachi had turned determined, he would earn the boys trust back, and he also still had yet to punish Kisame.

Itachi got out of bed and walked into master bedroom and saw Naruto desperately trying to get out of bed, without hurting his back too much.

"Need a little help?" Itachi sounded from the doorway causing Naruto to jump and land on his back on the floor.

"Oh I'm so sorry Naruto, I didn't mean to scare you, how much does it hurt? I'll help you up, I am so sorry." Itachi gushed panicked.

Naruto flinched at Itachis soft touch while shuffling back a bit.

"Naruto listen, I promise I'm not here to hurt you, I feel guilty enough as it is. I punished you for nothing! I promise I will never ever do that again. Come on, let me help you." Itachi spoke his words kindly and softly, not like himself at all.

"Ma-Master? Are you sick?" Naruto asked in a pained voice.

"No I'm fine Naruto-kun, what's makes you think I'm sick?"

"Well, um, you're not normally this nice. I mean you're part of the Akatsuki!"

"I assure you I am fine, now let's get you sorted."

Itachi helped Naruto to his feet and guided him into the bathroom.

"We need to change your bandages." Itachi mumbled to himself.

Itachi let go of Naruto to get the new bandages, but as soon as he let go, Naruto plummeted to the floor, well he would have, if Itachi didn't catch him.

"Are you alright? Right Naruto, I want you to hold onto something, I don't care what as long as it keeps you upright. Got it?" Itachi asked firmly with a hint of worry laced in his voice.

"I'm fine, I'll find something to hold on to. " Naruto stumbled (with help from Itachi) to the shower curtain, and clung to it. After Naruto was secured on the shower curtain Itachi again went to get the new bandages.

Silently Itachi walked back in and had begun to unwrap the old blood-soaked bandages, causing Naruto to jump a bit from the unexpectedness. Once the bandages were off Itachi got a cloth, warm water and some anti-septic cream.

Itachi cleansed Narutos wounds in horror of the extremities he had made.

A sudden thought occurred to Itachi.

"Naruto, do you know why Kyuubi isn't healing you?"

"I don't know Master."

"Any way you can ask him?"

"Yes I can go inside myself and speak to him"

"Can you do that for me? See what's going on."

"Yes Master, but I might go unconscious for a while"

"How long?"

"Minimum two hours"

"Ok Naruto let's get these bandages changed and then you can do it."

_Perfect, gives me just enough time to punish Kisame! Grr Kisame** WILL** pay!_ Itachi thought mischievously.

After Itachi changed the bandages Naruto went unconscious presumably now talking to Kyuubi to figure out what's going on.

_Now I have to find Kisame. _Itachi grinned evilly and walked out of the door.

Itachi walked out of the house and started on his way to the Akatsuki Hideout, Kisame is either there or at his own house, but most likely at the Akatsuki.

After an hour or two Itachi finally arrived and was greeted by all the members, including Kisame.

"Back so soon Itachi? Where's Naruto? Punish him good yeah?" Kisame said loudly.

"I need to have to have a word with you Kisame –Itachi looked at everyone else in the room- in private." Itachi was stern and emotionless as he and Kisame went into the shared bed chamber they had for when they were to stay when they were required at the akatsuki.

Itachi sat down first in a black leather chair located in the corner of the room.

"You lied to me" Itachi stated emotionlessly.

"What? When did I?" Kisame looked startled.

"You lied to me. You said Naruto tried to escape. He didn't. I don't like liars Kisame."

"Did that brat tell you this? He's the lying one! How can you believe him over me, your partner?!" Kisame yelled angrily.

"HE SWORE ON SASUKES LIFE HE DIDNT DO IT!!" Itachi yelled back more fiercely and grabbed hold of Kisames Akatsuki Cloak.

"So? He's just trying to save his own ass, and how does that make you suddenly believe Naruto's all that innocent, huh? What's so special in him saying that?" Kisame was getting panicked and was frantically clawing at itachis hand to let go.

"Kisame. Have you ever loved anyone, I mean really loved someone and would be prepared to die for them for their own safety?"

"No, what does that have to do with this?"

"Much to my dislike Naruto is in love with my foolish brother Sasuke, and would never, ever, say anything to put Sasuke in harm, he would never swear on that life UNLESS it was true. You see Kisame? That's why I know he's telling the truth and how I know you lied to me."

"I-I-I'm S-Sorry, I won't l-lie again I p-p-promise." Kisame stuttered quickly, desperately trying to get out of Itachis grip.

"Why did you lie Kisame? What reason did you have to wish harm on him? You have 30 seconds to explain." Itachis voice had gone from emotionlessly calm to angry.

"I-I don't know. I just didn't like him, we were supposed to get his Kyuubi, but now you've grown all soft and I don't like it!"

"Sorry, but that's the wrong answer Kisame. Do you know what I do to lairs? –Kisame shook his head- no? Well you're about to find out. Come on. I'll show you I'm not soft, I'll show you I'm still the same Itachi you know. Never assume things, and just so you know, the reason I'm being nice to Naruto is **not **that I'm going _soft_, quite the opposite actually, I'm planning to use that boy to my advantage. Now Kisame. Don't you have a lesson you need to learn?

"I-I-Itachi please don't do this. I beg of you. I won't lie to you again. I promise! "

"Not good enough, I know if you are not shown the consequences for your actions you will do it again and again until the consequences are shown. Now come on!" Itachi stood up, still with Kisame in his grasp and proceeded in dragging Kisame out of the room, who was now in shocked silence.

Itachi dragged Kisame into the main headquarter s where Pein and the rest of the group were.

"Pein, can I speak to you please in the other room?" Itachi asked loudly

"Certainly." Pein replied getting up and heading into a room across the one he was just in.

"Right, I've found Kisame here –shakes Kisame a little- being dishonest and I would like permission to use your private punishment room leader-sama."

Kisames face paled visibly and he began to shake in what seemed to be fear.

"Yes, yes of course. You know how we dislike lairs, you have my approval." Pein smirked and began walking away.

"Now that that's settled, lets go." Itachi said already dragging Kisame to the designated area.

Once there Itachi noticed it was quite different from the one he had in his home, it was a lot more gruesome and there was even some people still in there, alive and dead.

"Right Kisame, where shall I put you, chained to the wall like I did Naruto? Chained to a table? Hm, tell me where shall I put you?" Itachis voice had gone back to emotionlessly calm.

Kisame was silent, head down tears slowly falling down his face.

Itachi grabbed Kisames hair and roughly pulled his head up.

"Answer me when I'm speaking to you!" Itachi yelled at Kisame. (A/N: Mood swings much lol)

"I-I-I don't know Itachi-san." Kisame stuttered.

"I'll just have to decide for you then wont I?" Itachi replied shoving Kisame into a wall.

Itachi went to the door and shut it with a click, signifying that it was locked.

The Punishment had begun.

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A/N: Here's chapter ten, hope you liked. Right do you want to know the punishment or do you want to think of your own? Tell me what you want me to do and I'll do my best to do it for you. If you want to see Kisame get punished then it'd be good if you could send me some ideas maybe of what you want but keep in mind even if you do send me some ideas, I may not use them as I do have a few ideas of my own. Anyways hope you liked. I'll post next chapter up as soon as I get some feedback about what you want and then when I've finished the chapter. Bye-bye . 


	11. Chapter 11

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not So-Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Eleven**

Naruto POV

It's been four hours since I first went unconscious to talk to Kyuubi, when I woke up two hours after that Itachi was nowhere in sight. It's now been a total of four hours and I've seen no sign of him, not that I care anyway. I do wonder where he's gone though. In my talk with Kyuubi I figured out why he hasn't healed me. He said he was saving the energy as he think something worse is yet to come which is more important than these injuries. I hope to god he's wrong. What could be worse than these cuts and lashes? I swear sometimes I think Kyuubi just makes things up because he can't be bothered to heal me. Stupid Kyuubi.

**Kit you know I can hear you, right?** Kyuubi growled through my head.

Shit! He hasn't talked to me in a long time about my thoughts I completely forgot he can still hear me, which sucks.

What to do? Naruto wondered around aimlessly for a while. Itachi's not here at the moment. I'm going to see what decent food Itachi has. Heh he won't mind.

I went down the stairs into the kitchen and proceeded in raiding Itachis fridge and cupboards, making a note that he had no ramen whatsoever in his kitchen, and also noting that most of his foods were healthy junk. I shrugged. I guess it can't be helped.

I dived into the cupboard again and grabbed an armful of different food and made my way back into the bedroom. I ate and ate; occasionally going back to the kitchen to get more, I ate until I could eat no more and sleep over took me.

Itachis POV

I had finally come home to find it unusually quiet, way too quiet.

My first thought being, Naruto had escaped. I knew I shouldn't have left him alone, but there was nothing I could have done, there was no one I trusted and Kisame just had to be punished. It is my own fault as well. I mean what did I expect? No matter. I'll find him.

I quietly crept up the stairs just in case he was still in the house and I opened the door to my bedroom. Various foods scattered the floor in huge amounts until there was none of my carpet visible, this was Narutos doing. I looked around the room more, inspecting the mess. After analysing how bad the mess was I looked towards the bed. There, on the bed was a sleeping Naruto. I let out a breath of relief. He was still here. He had not left me. I quickly got mildly aggravated about the mess though. When he wakes I'll get him to clean all this up, but for now I'll get myself some food. I went down to the kitchen and made myself a sandwich, there was barely anything else to eat and I didn't have the patience to cook.

After finishing eating I sat there silently, thinking to myself about the past events that have occurred over the past few days. A lot had happened.

After a while I heard a loud crash coming from the bedroom upstairs. I sat up intently and listened fully alert. I soon heard footsteps coming down the stairs and seconds later Naruto walked sleepily into the kitchen with me.

"Mm, morning master." Naruto mumbled, leaning onto the kitchen doorframe, his eyes closed, and sleep evident in his voice.

"Yes indeed, although I don't appreciate coming back to find mess in my room, Naruto-kun." I replied monotonously. I watched his eyes widen a fraction.

"I'm so sorry Master, I completely forgot about it. Heh I guess I got a bit carried away. I promise it won't happen again.

"Indeed it won't happen again. –Narutos showed fear from just those words. - don't worry, you're only going to have to clean up the mess you made."

"Oh, of course Master. I didn't expect anything less Master." The fear had gone, replaced with an almost gleaming happiness. He walked over to the table where I sat and sat opposite me.

"So Master, where did you go? I regained consciousness and you weren't there." He asked curiously gazing at me through heavy lidded eyes.

"Well after the punishment I gave you which Kisame inflicted I thought a punishment just for him was in order."

Narutos eyes widen, and all evidence of tiredness was gone.

"Master, what did you do to him? He's not too badly hurt is he? – Naruto paused- you didn't kill him did you?"

"Don't worry Naruto; I can assure you I didn't kill him."

"That's good then, I mean what would your Akatsuki leader say?

"He wouldn't care, I would just have to get a new partner, and Leader-Sama hates liars as much as I do. Naruto-kun, why do you care so much that I didn't kill Kisame?"

Naruto was silent for a while, before he got an evil glint in his eyes.

"Well, because Itachi-sama if you'd let me I'd like to kill him myself."

I laughed coldly, I think maybe he's been around me too much, or he has always been like that, after all I wouldn't know, but I doubt he'd be able to kill Kisame, I mean, Kisame **is **strong.

"Ahh Naruto-kun, I would gladly let you, but how will you do it, I mean Kisame is a lot stronger than you, especially with that sword of his."

Naruto got a determined look in his eyes.

"I can do it! I am Naruto, best ninja in Konoha, well when I was there anyway." Naruto stood up abruptly.

**Meanwhile in Konoha**

Sasuke had finally returned to a quiet and peaceful Konoha, something it was not known for, not with Naruto around. Sasuke looked around silently comprehending the abnormal peace. As Sasuke comprehended he noticed that the Ichiraku Ramen Bar, was out of business, or getting there. Sasuke walked over.

"Oi, Teuchi, What's happened? Where's Naruto?" Sasuke demands.

"I don't know, I haven't seen that little guy in ages, he hasn't come for ramen for about a month now." Teuchi replied, confused.

Sasuke didn't reply just turned around and headed to Narutos apartment. Naruto wasn't there. Next he tried the training areas, Sasukes suspicions about him not being there were proven correct. Sasuke went to every place he could think of, and asked everyone he came in contact with if they knew anything, Naruto still couldn't be found, no one knew anything. Sasuke was at a loss. Not even the Hokage knew where Naruto had gone to. Tsunade sent out a search party to check everywhere for Naruto, but no one could find him. Sasuke started questioning some of the villagers close to the border. As he spoke briefly to a farmer, he thought that the man was acting rather suspicious when Naruto's name was mentioned. He informed Tsunade and she ordered him to her office.

She asked him a series of questions and clearly her intimidation worked well, for he was soon saying things he hadn't told Sasuke.

"Alright, I saw Naruto about a month ago! He was in the forests by the border. I didn't see what happened properly, but there was this guy who looked like you," He turned to Sasuke. "He took Naruto with him." The farmer said, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he caught Sasuke's glare.

"What else did this guy look like?" Sasuke demanded, his sharingan quickly forming in his eyes.

"Easy Sasuke." Tsunade warned. "And as for you, you'd better give a good description. You've been holding this information for a month! You could have seriously endangered Konoha!" The farmer swallowed, hard.

"Well he was really tall, and he had dark hair, tied back in a ponytail. And there was a Konoha headband on his head, but it had a crack in it." Sasuke listened with dread and anger. His fists clenched at his sides.

"Itachi." He hissed.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone! I've finally updated again, I'm really sorry, I have no idea why it takes me so long to get chapters out. Anyways, hope you liked it. I had help from my friend (homesweethomicide13) with this chapter. So I'm sorry to say it's not all my work lol. Although it was only the end she helped on. Oh and by the way, I have put a poll in my homepage, on who should be the final pairing in this story, so if you could do it for me, that would be a great help. Thanks. Okays bye-bye xx 


	12. Chapter 12

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Twelve**

Sasuke POV

Itachi had stolen **my **Naruto, if he's not dead, I will get him back. I'll finally be able to kill that brother I hate so much, but I need to know where they would be. I have to find them both first before I can do anything. Damn Itachi, how dare he, is he trying to get himself killed?! If so then he's going the right way about it. I mean, I'm stronger now.

I came out of my thoughts upon hearing Tsunade cough and realising I was still in her office with the Konoha farmer. I turned to him.

"Which direction did they go, and how long ago was this, a month correct?" I demanded viciously.

"I-I saw them go out of Konoha and straight ahead, this was about a month or two ago, I-I can't remember it exactly." The farmers voice was just above a stuttering whisper, I even had to strain to hear him, but that was all I needed to know for now and without another word I ran off, thoughts of killing Itachi racing through my head, I went in the stated direction and came to a place I found oddly familiar, I couldn't figure it out though, where do I know this place from? I carried on running, desperate to get to Naruto.

Tsunade POV

I can't believe I didn't realise Naruto was in danger sooner, I mean, I knew he was missing but I had just assumed he had gone off and would be back when he was ready, he'd been doing that a lot

lately. It was only when Sasuke had come back to Konoha did I realise how extremely foolish I had been then. Never will I be that foolish again. Maybe I'm not fit to be Hokage; I could have put everyone at risk. I sat there thinking, I was pretty sure Sasuke would find him, if it's not too late that is. I mean Itachi _**is **_part of the Akatsuki organisation and they have wanted Narutos Kyuubi for as long as I can remember now, what if Itachi finally managed to capture Naruto and take out Kyuubi? That would be bad, Naruto would surely be dead, Sasuke, Kakashi and Iruka would never forgive me, and neither would I.

I hope to god that it wasn't too late; I hoped to god Sasuke would find him alive, I just hoped Naruto was ok.

Itachi POV

After I persuaded Naruto to train a little before trying to kill Kisame, I went upstairs to have a well deserved shower, I'm sure I needed one. I'm actually pretty shocked, I wouldn't have thought Naruto would be one to kill so determinedly. Guess I was wrong.

I made my way into the bathroom, stripping myself of my clothes and I got into my already turned on shower.

The hot water was soothing down my back, relaxing my tense muscles. I'm beginning to worry myself, earlier I was terrified thinking that Naruto had ran away, it wasn't like me, not like me at all, I don't know what's happening to me, but I know I don't like it. I kill with no reason, I love no one, I do not worry about anyone and I certainly do not care for anyone, but for some reason when I think of that boy something pings inside my head, like an alarm bell except it's not telling me I'm in danger, but something else, yet I can't figure out what. That's what bothers me; I cannot figure something out that I assume is so simple. I will find out. Whatever it takes I'll found out what this feeling means.

I was thinking so hard that I didn't notice the water had grown cold. I must have been in here for quite some time, I better get out, otherwise Naruto might think I have drowned or something.

There was a knock on the bathroom door.

"Itachi-sama, Are you ok in there?" I heard Narutos small voice echo inside the room.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, I am fine, I'll be out in a while" I called back to him calmly.

Without another word from Naruto I heard his feet retreat from the door.

Narutos POV

I was sat on Itachis bed, thinking what was taking him so long, I mean surely it didn't take _**that**_ long to have one shower. Not even I take that long, and that's saying something, I like long showers, but not that long, maybe I should check on him, make sure he hasn't drowned of something.

I knocked timidly at the bathroom before quietly speaking, not wanting to disturb him too much.

"Itachi-sama, are you ok in there?" I couldn't be sure he would hear me, I spoke _that_ quietly.

I waited for a while with no response and I was about to knock again, when he finally spoke.

"Yes, Naruto-kun, I am fine, I'll be out in a while" he spoke so calmly, as always, I guess you could say it irritated me a little, how could someone like him be so calm, pretty much all ofthe time?

I retreated back into Itachis bedroom, waiting patiently till he came out.

As I was waiting,I heard a noise coming from somewheredownstairs andI sensed something was not quite right, there was some nearby, I went downstairs to peer out the keyhole in the front door, to see if I could seeanyone or anything mysterious, but I saw no one and nothing. It was strange, I was sure I had heard something, it couldn't have been my imagination, and plus my instinct is almost never wrong.

A hand was unexpectedly placed upon my shoulder; I turned around, thinking that it was Itachi finally out of his shower, but I was wrong, it wasn't Itachi but **Sasuke. **

"Looking for me **dobe?"** Sasuke asked smirking at me.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?!" my voice had dropped to a whisper and inside I was panicking, if Itachi came down now, Sasuke would be killed, I don't want that, not now, not him, not anyone I'm close to.

"What does it look like I'm doing; I'm going to get you out of here. Where's Itachi?"

"H-He's in the shower, Sasuke if he catches you here, you'll be killed, you need to go now, and Itachi will go mad if he finds me gone."

"Come on Naruto, I'm not leaving you here, if Itachi comes down, I'll kill him before he does me, I'm a lot stronger now you know. Itachi can't harm you if he can't find you."

I should have been ecstatic that someone was here to save me, but for some reason, I wasn't, I didn't feel I was ready to leave just yet, something was telling me to stay here a little while longer, but how can I get Sasuke to leave without me? He's not one to give up so easily.

"Sa-Sasuke, I-I can't go with you, you need to leave." I looked down, he was going to be angry with me, and I did not want to see that look on his face.

"Naruto, you **are **coming with me, either you come willingly or I'm going to force you and why the hell would you want to stay with him, he's a killer for god sakes! He killed mine and his entire clan, he only left me! Is that someone you want to stay with? Is it?

I stayed silent, not knowing what to say, I mean how could I answer that?! I can't say 'something's telling me to stay.' Can I? It's ridiculous.

Sasuke had taken a step closer to me, and I took a step back, where the hell was Itachi? Sasuke was suddenly in front of me and I was stuck between him and a wall. I was well and truly trapped.

"So dobe, you going to come willingly or am I going to have to force you?" Sasuke literally growled out. I had never seen him so eerily calm before, and I had to admit I was scared. I still stayed silent, un-moving.

"I guess I'm going to have to use force then." With no warning Sasuke had punched me hard in the stomach, and everything around me slowly faded into black nothingness.

Itachi POV (again lol)

I had decided to stay in the shower a little longer, but I was not out, and it was strangely quiet, too quiet for my likings, I went into the bedroom, Naruto was not there, I went downstairs, it looked like someone else had been here, Naruto was nowhere in sight, he was gone, and I bet I know who took him.

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A/N: hey! So there's chapter 12 for you, hoped you like it, it's like 1.30 am lol and I've finally finished. I worked really hard on this chapter, so I really hope it is good. I wrote a fair amount on it as well . and I know I put this in my A/N before but I'm going to say it again, there is a poll in my profile and I would very much appreciate if you haven't already done so, if you could do it for me, it is vital to the story. Thanks very much, hope you all enjoyed this chapter, Bye-bye xx 


	13. Chapter 13

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Thirteen**

A/N: Hey again, just so you all know, this chapter it is essential of all you to read the end authors note ok? On with the story.

Itachi POV (continued)

It had to be Sasuke who stole Naruto from me; I'm only surprised he didn't try killing me while he was here. Did Naruto go with Sasuke willingly though? Or did Sasuke have to resort to force? So far I could see no sign of struggle, although when I looked down at the ground I saw a spot of blood splattered on my carpet. It didn't matter whose blood it was, either Naruto hit Sasuke to get away, or Sasuke hit Naruto to take him. Let's see whose blood it is. I bent down and wiped some of the still fresh blood onto my finger, sniffing it slowly, before just as slowly putting it into my mouth.

It was Narutos blood. So it was Sasuke who hit Naruto. I can't let him get away with that now can I?

Now I just need to find him, if he's took Naruto back to Konoha it'll take a few days to get there, if I'm quick, but if Sasuke took Naruto elsewhere I will have to find out where and then get there, and I don't know how long that will take me. I mean it all depends how far Sasuke is willing to go.

I'll first go to Konoha, but I best start as soon as possible. I want Naruto back and soon.

I better get going. I made my way to my bedroom, got dressed and went out the door, starting my search for Naruto. I was going to teach Sasuke a lesson, a lesson never to steal what is mine.

Naruto POV.

**-Time Elapse-**

It had been a month already, and no sign of Itachi, I should be ecstatic, Itachi is a cruel, sick bastard and the only reason I went to Itachi was because I missed Sasuke and thought he was him, sure I was nice to him then, but it didn't get me anywhere, except kidnapped but now I'm with Sasuke, he saved me, I won't ever get hurt again by Itachi, but here I am wondering what Itachi is doing, why hasn't he come and got me yet. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe Itachi tampered with my brain. Yeah that's it, that's what he's done to me. What's more is Kyuubi hasn't been speaking to me, refuses to, and just stays quiet in my head no matter how much I try to get him to talk. Have I done anything to upset him?

There's no way I can know, not without asking him, and that's pretty much pointless because I'm pretty certain he won't reply.

What was he doing? Why won't he answer me? I don't understand.

Lately I haven't understood anything, I don't know what's happening to me, I don't know what I want, who I want even. I thought I had my life figured out, but I guess I was wrong.

_Kyuubi, what's wrong? Why won't you answer me? _I tried again for the umpteenth time. I still got no reply. I sighed to myself, another day with no answer.

I heard the door to the room I was in open and there, in the doorway was Sasuke.

"Oi dobe, what are you doing being so quiet, it's not like you." Sasuke called out to me from the doorway.

"O-oh nothing Sasuke, I'm just thinking." I replied, sitting up straighter and turning to face Sasuke.

"What about, dobe?"

"Uh, it's nothing important."

"Fine, if you say so" and he left the room, leaving me yet again alone.

What was I going to do? Should I go back to Itachi, like I keep thinking? Or should I stay here with Sasuke, wherever we are. I didn't even know where Sasuke had taken me, I just knew it wasn't Konoha, well I mean he did at first, to tell Tsunade I was found, but the bastard didn't even give me a chance to glomp Iruka-sensei and Kaka-sensei –mentally pouts- before I was dragged off again, to somewhere new, somewhere I didn't know, I didn't think even Sasuke himself knew.

Sasuke had changed, and not for the good, he was always cold and distant, but now he was beyond that, he had become cruel, I had seen him in his room plotting plans to kill that I didn't know was actually achievable, things to cruel for words. Orochimaru had made Sasuke heartless. I didn't like it. Not one bit.

I've decided, if Itachi doesn't come for me in a week, I'm going to go to him, I can't stay with this heartless creature who at this precise moment was a substitute for Sasuke, an exact replica but it couldn't be him, his personality states otherwise. Itachi had more of a heart than Sasuke now. I felt 

that Itachi cared at least a little and with Sasuke, I couldn't even find not one ounce of his old caring side.

Lost in my thoughts I didn't realise Sasuke had returned and was watching me, I didn't realise he was walking closer towards me, I didn't realise that he had a look of harsh seriousness and I didn't realise it was all direct at me, until I looked up.

I jumped away standing a distance away from him quickly.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" I whispered softly, keeping my distance.

"You, you are what's wrong, you're planning something, and I don't like it." Sasuke took a step closer to me, while I took another step back.

"N-No I'm not, why would I be planning anything. What makes you think that anyway?"

"I've been watching you for quite a while now, I've seen your facial expressions change from sadness, to wonder, to sadness again, to thinking hard, and I know when you're thinking hard, you're planning something, so just spit it out and tell me."

How would this new Sasuke react if I told him I wanted to go back to Itachi? I don't think it would go very well, so I stayed silent.

Our dance of him moving forward and me moving backwards soon came to an end when my back promptly and firmly hit the wall, and Sasuke was looking down at me, getting as close as he could get, pushing against me.

"Well dobe? Are you going to answer me or what? Or are you just going to stand there like the baka you are? You should be grateful, I saved you from my sick brother, but I don't see gratefulness in your eyes, I can see you want to get away from me, I see fear in your eyes. Why is that Naruto?" Sasuke was crushing me against the wall, and he didn't stop, he kept on pushing against me, as if he would push me through the wall.

I still remained silent, it wasn't that I refused to speak, it was that I couldn't, I was so scared of this new Sasuke I can't even open my mouth, not even to cry out in the pain he was causing me, the most I could do was wince.

"ANSWER ME!" Sasuke was beyond angry, and I tried my hardest to speak, opening and closing my mouth, trying to get my breath and throat to work so I could force the words out, anything so I wouldn't get hurt again. Sasukes pushing let up a little, but it still hurt, but I could breathe a little better and when I could I managed to squeak out words that must have made things even worse.

"Y-Y-you've ch-changed, I-I w-want to g-g-go back to it-ita-Itachi." I couldn't stopped stuttering, but it didn't matter now, as soon as I said those words it didn't matter, I had just made the worst mistake I could ever make, and I was certain I was going to pay for it. It was made clear by the look on Sasukes face.

* * *

A/N: Hey everyone. Here you go, chapter 13! Hoped you liked, sorry it's taken me so long to get it out, but I was made a deal with my friend that when she posted the next chapter of her story I would post the next chapter of my story, but that hasn't worked, cause I couldn't wait any longer to put this up, I hope you've liked this chapter, I've worked hard on it (I do on every chapter) I have to ask this question now though. What are your opinions on sexual violence (rape etc) because I'm thinking of using some in the next chapter, I won't write it if you're not comfortable with it of course so I need a lot of opinions, I will not post the next chapter until I think I have had enough opinions, so I would like you to keep that in mind. I am not going to write something the majority of readers are not comfortable ok? But please, please tell me your honest opinions as soon as possible, so I know what I'm writing. Thanks. Bye-bye, until next time.


	14. Chapter 14

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Fourteen**

Third Person POV (Normal POV)

Naruto, terrified and shaken, stared wide eyed at Sasuke.

Sasuke just stared outraged at Naruto, a malicious look in eyes.

"What did you just say, Naruto?" Sasuke angrily demanded.

Naruto stayed silent, he wasn't really listening, he was too shocked at his own words, he didn't mean for them to come out, not until another week at least.

Naruto was brought roughly out of his thoughts due to receiving a sharp hit around the head from the offended Sasuke.

"I asked you a question dobe. I expect it answered... now."

Naruto struggled to get his words out but finally managed it.

"I-I want to go back to Itachi." Naruto voice was just above a whisper, barely audible.

"And why is that Naruto?" Sasuke activated his sharingan dangerously. "Am I not good enough company? Do you like the cruel ways he surely treated you? Is that it? You enjoy pain? Enjoy being tortured?"

"No! That's not it at all, Itachi wasn't cruel to me, and when he was he felt guilty! I saw it, he was nice to me" _well kind of._ Naruto added on silently.



"Bullshit Naruto! Itachi is my brother, I know him, he wouldn't know nice if it bit him in the ass! Itachi only knows how to kill, cause pain and to torture, you should know that as well, you have the fading scars on your back to prove it."

"Yes, but he felt guilty for it, he even punished Kisame for it! It was Kisames fault."

"He still did it! And you, _**you **_want to go back to him!" Sasuke once again stepped closer to Naruto, pressing him against the wall tighter than he already was moments ago. "So you like pain, eh?"

Once again, Narutos lungs were crushed so tightly against the wall he couldn't get enough breath to speak. Sasuke silently waited, he knew Naruto was having trouble breathing, but at this precise moment he couldn't have cared any less.

"I'll take that as a yes. I'll guess I'll have to show you real pain, bet you'd like that, wouldn't you Naruto?"

Narutos eyes widened, he wasn't sure what Sasuke was going to do, but he knew it was going to be bad. Really bad.

Sasuke POV

In the back of my head, I knew most of what I said wasn't true, I was just so angry, I couldn't describe how much in words, but I could certainly show it in my actions. How could he?! How could Naruto betray me like that? He knows how I long to kill that brother of mine, once he even agreed with me, but yet now he wants to go back to him, after everything Itachi has done, to mine and his family and most likely to Naruto, Naruto still wanted to stay with him.

I would not have that. Not for a split second.

No one betrays me like he has without being punished.

* * *

**(A/N: **I know some of you didn't want any sexual violence, but I think it would be important to the story, but you don't have to read it, I will put another A/N at the end of the 'scene' so you know when to read again. So if you don't wish to read it, don't. The 'scene' starts after this A/N so yeah, and also I am going to warn the readers who are going to read the 'scene' there will be implied OroSasu, I know it's gross, but it has to be done because if you think about Sasuke was about 12/13 and he wouldn't really know a lot about gay sex, and Orochimaru isa pervert. And also if you do read, and are offended I am really sorry.)

* * *

I looked back at Narutos face and noticed his breath was getting shallower and shallower; soon he would faint if he failed to get any breath, and I couldn't have that now. Could I? I abruptly stepped back, far enough away so that I wasn't touching him, and I watched him slide down the wall onto the floor, panting, trying to regain his breath while looking at me in suspicious confusion.

Before Naruto had enough chance to get a lot of breath back, I once again had got him pinned, this time face first into the floor, again as tightly as I could without making him faint, I wanted him to be awake when I did this.



I barely noticed that Naruto was gushing frightened words out of his mouth, I don't know what he was saying, but I was certain I didn't care, he was probably begging. Begging gets you nowhere with me, I can tell you that.

"You'll love this Naruto, don't you worry" I growled seductively in his ear. His breath hitched in fear. He knew what was going to happen now.

I wriggled my arms under Narutos lower stomach and lifted, raising his hips up enough for me to tug down both his trousers and boxers, exposing his small ass and skinny legs. I had no care to take off his shirt, I didn't need to, I had no use for his upper body at this precise moment, but I knew, if a thought does occur involving his upper body, it wouldn't be difficult to take what's needed off.

I moved my arms so they were on his lower back and slammed him back to the floor completely again. I heard a whimper come quietly from his mouth before I placed a single hand on his back, keeping him in place, before setting to work on my own clothes.

Narutos voice was getting louder now, but I had no desire to listen to them. I was set on punishing him; I can't let anything go wrong.

I slowly leaned down, pushing my weight onto his back, so every part of me was pressed against him and my head right next to his ear.

"This is going to be painful Naruto, but I'm sure you'll be fine, you like pain don't you and you have Kyuubi after all."

Naruto whimpered, visibly terrified even to me. I still didn't care, Orochimaru had taken most of my caring side, I only had enough left to retrieve Naruto, but now that he had betrayed me, I had no more caring side, all I needed now was power, and I was going to get it.

I lifted Narutos hips with my hands, leaving his upper body on the floor, and pushed my way inside of him. Naruto screamed out. I didn't bother wait till he got used to me, I just started moving, oblivious to Narutos pleas and whispered meaningless threats.

I could understand now why Orochimaru liked doing this so much to me, it felt good to be inside Naruto, so it had to be the same. Yes Orochimaru had taught me a lot, more than I had asked for, although at first I was sickened, in fact it still does sicken me but I never knew how much in handy it would come.

It barely registered that I, myself was speaking to Naruto, asking various questions such as '_Itachi this good? Bet he's done this many of times before.' _Things I knew weren't true, I knew this was his first, and I knew this didn't feel good to him, but I still asked, I wanted to be as cruel as I could, he deserved it.

I realised all I could here now was my own heavy breathing and jumbled words, Naruto was silent. I looked down at him to see if he had fainted, to see he was biting his lip painfully hard, hard enough to make his lip bleed. I inwardly smirked; he was in definite pain he just didn't want to show it.

I could feel something in the pit of my stomach and I knew I wouldn't last much longer. I never knew this could feel good, I always had thought it was wrong, hell I didn't know much about it in the first 

place, but I'm glad I learnt about it, even if it was from creepy snake dude also known as Orochimaru, and I guess he's not that bad I guess, I mean he's gave me all the power I wanted. That feeling in my stomach suddenly came too much and I released into Naruto, gripping his hips tightly, my nails digging in creating nasty looking half crescent nail marks. I let go of him and he dropped onto the floor, a mess of tears and blood. I hadn't realised till just then that he wasn't bleeding just from the mouth. I had done it now, Naruto was thoroughly punished.

* * *

(**A/N: **That's the end of the 'scene' so it's safe to read again, those who didn't read that part. Again I'm going to say, anyone who did read it and were offended I am really sorry. Anyways on with the story again)

* * *

Naruto POV

I felt Sasuke move off me and soon after heard the rustling of clothes. I assumed he was putting on his clothes back on. I didn't want to look. I can't believe that happened. I mean Sasuke of all people. He used to be my best friend and rival. I guess this was punishment. I was so sore.

The rustling of clothes had stopped. And I felt rather than saw Sasuke lean down to me.

"Do you still want to go back to Itachi?" Sasuke breathed against my ear and I shivered.

I should have lied and said no, I didn't want to go to Itachi, and then just sneak out, but I didn't lie, I felt myself weakly nod against the floor.

"I see, I'll give you two minutes to get out of here out of my sight or I'll do it again."

I felt myself nod again weakly and push myself onto all fours, putting my boxers and trousers back on before standing up with support of the wall.

Was this the 'worse' you thought was going to happen Kyuubi? I asked, praying that this time he would reply.

**Yes Kit. That is the worse I was on about. **He replied in my head.

Why didn't you speak to me all those other times? I asked him.

**Saving energy, I needed as much as I could get. **I stopped moving when I heard that, astounded, but after a minute kept on walking.

Thanks Kyuubi I thought back to him gratefully.

**No problem Kit, I'm pretty fond of you so I'm willing. Now come let's get out of here, Itachis looking for you probably. **

I carried on walking slowly out the house, and got a distance away from the house before I started get dizzy and out of focused. And before I knew it I was unconscious

Itachi POV

I have looked everywhere accept one place and still no sign of Naruto. He must be there. I don't have much further to go now, just through those woods.



As I was walking I saw a rather human looking blob in orange on the ground.

Naruto! It has to be him. I don't know anyone else that wears orange.

I quickly ran to the spot and as I thought there was Naruto, unconscious and blood seeping through his clothes. This was the work of Sasuke. He was going to pay so bad, I may even kill him. I have no doubt about what he has done and he will not get away with it, but right now I need to get Naruto away from this place, and make sure if he's going to be ok.

I picked Naruto up and started walking, away from this place, and to Akatsuki. It was closer that way I can go punish Sasuke quicker than if I had to come here from my home.

* * *

**A/N**: Hey here's chapter 14. I hope you all liked it, I'm really sorry if I offended anyone, I hope I didn't, but yea there you go, I was so nervous posting this up lol but I couldn't delay it any longer. Anyway this is one chapter I would like as many as possible to review, 'cause I'm in dire need of reassurance. Thanks bye-bye x


	15. Chapter 15

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Fifteen**

Itachi POV

I carried an unconscious Naruto all the way to the akatsuki hideout, which surprisingly wasn't that far from where I had found him, a mere twenty minutes I'd say.

Once I had got into the hideout I was given many strange looks and questioning glances, I presume they were all thinking why I was carrying him rather than dragging him. I ignored them of course, just carried on my way to mine and Kisames room, and placed Naruto gently onto my bed. He had yet to wake up, but I expected that as he had a lot of healing to do in various places. I wonder what Kisame was doing, I hope he's still in pain or shock. He doesn't have the Kyuubi to heal him like Naruto does after all.

I didn't want Kisame in this room while Naruto was here so I got up from where I was sitting and wrote a sign for Kisame ' Go sleep with one of the others fish face, you're not sleeping in here for a while. Itachi' and stuck it on the door with a smirk. I knew how much he hated that nickname, and I also knew he wouldn't disobey me anymore; he was more scared of me than he was, makes me smile at the thought of it.

I moved back into the room, sitting on the edge of the bed, watching Narutos unconscious state, silently playing with his hair.

I don't know how long I sat like that, completely still, not leaving his side. I wondered when he was going to regain consciousness, I hope it's soon. I want to make sure he's alright. It feels weird caring about someone, I haven't cared for anyone in so long, I mildly cared for Kisame, but that was only because I didn't want the hassle of finding a new partner if he were to be killed. And also I knew Leader-sama wouldn't be too happy either. I got rid of those thoughts, after all my main priority right now is Naruto, no one or nothing else.

-Time Lapse-

I'm not sure how many hours I've been in this position, waiting so I can make sure that Narutos okay, I've waited and waited, and I wondered when it would be a new day, would it be soon? I thought so, if not soon, a couple of hours at the most.

I hoped he would wake up soon, after hours of sitting here I was beginning to get restless, but finally my many hours of waiting paid off and Naruto groggily woke up, opening his eyes.

He looked in my direction and saw me. He looked at me sleepily before his eyes widened slightly in surprise.

"Itachi?" he questioned hoarsely, bewildered.

"Who else would I be?" I replied with a small smile, which he slowly returned. I repositioned myself into a more comfortable position, and began to play with his hair again.

"You found me then. How long have I been out for?"

I wasn't sure myself, I should know but I was too busy watching him, I wasn't concerned about the time.

"I'm not actually sure myself Naruto. It's been quite a while, nearly a day I presume. "

Naruto looked around the room, and I could tell by the expression that formed his face that he was confused. I wasn't surprised, he didn't notice the surroundings.

"Where are we?" Naruto asked me, his voice still soft, but was definitely getting its strength back. He was still staring at me, but turned onto his side so he could see me better I assume.

"Akatsuki" I said simply, keeping all emotion out of my voice.

His eyes widened again, but he didn't say anything.

We sat in a peaceful silence, me looking at him and playing with his hair still, and Naruto hugging my waist, simply cuddling.

"You and Sasuke have switched." It was Naruto who broke the silence, and I sat up straighter.

"What do you mean Naruto-kun?" I asked intrigued.

Normal POV

"I mean, when I was in Konoha along with Sasuke he was my rival and best friend, he rarely hurt me, although he always pretended he didn't care I knew he did. I swear it's in the Uchiha blood to pretend they don't care about anything and have no emotions, but yeah, Sasuke was nice to me and used to be my friend, and I always thought you were the nasty killing one, but I now think its Sasuke and it's you who is my friend..._Maybe more." _Naruto blushed at his almost inaudible last statement and prayed that Itachi didn't hear it. And fortunately for him Itachi didn't, he was still in shock of being called a friend that he blocked out the rest of the sentence. This boy, the boy he'd kidnapped classed him as a _friend_. Itachi wasn't sure if he should feel happy, thrilled even or frustrated, after all Itachi was just using Naruto, wasn't he?

Itachi abruptly stood up.

"Would you like any food, Naruto?" Itachi asked, monotonously.

Naruto opened his mouth, but before he could speak his stomach growled loudly causing him to blush, clearly embarrassed.

"I'll take that as a yes, come on." Itachi said, holding back a chuckle, and walking out the door, Naruto trailing closely behind.

Once Itachi and Naruto got to the large, spotless akatsuki kitchen Itachi almost immediately started rummaging through the cupboards.

Naruto looked on, confused. If Itachi was looking for the fruit it was on the counter, did Itachi not see it? And what would fruit be doing in a cupboard?

After a while of Itachis insistent rummaging he finished his search and brought out two cups of miso ramen. Naruto was astounded.

_I thought I was on a strict fruit diet and never to have ramen around him. _Naruto thought to himself.

Itachi noticing Narutos expression, sighed and just said "you deserve it" before proceeding to make Narutos favourite food.

While Itachi and Naruto were eating the kitchen door opened and Deidara came into view. He looked from Itachi, to Naruto and back again before speaking.

"Itachi-san, what is he doing here, un?"

"healing" Itachi simply replied getting up and putting his and Narutos now empty bowls into the sink and then sitting back down again, opposite Naruto. Deidara came and sat next to Naruto.

Naruto looked at Deidara suspiciously and when Deidara did nothing Naruto turned to Itachi raising an eyebrow, who just shook his head and stayed silent.

Silence had been ensued and Naruto sat there twiddling his thumbs and wondering what Deidara was playing at.

Breaking the silence Deidara let out a girlish giggle, but when Naruto turned to him, he abruptly stopped giggling and quickly turned his head away humming. Naruto went to stand up but Deidara unexpectedly grabbed him, pulling him back to sit down, his mouths on his hands licking at Narutos skin, making Naruto amusedly squeak. Itachi just sat there watching Deidaras amusing antics, although he was more than prepared to tell Deidara to back off, but he knew Deidara well enough to know that this is what he did to everyone, making a record of how many people he can freak out in a certain amount of time. Naruto directed a pleading look to Itachi, pleading for him to help him, worried Deidara was going to eat him or something.

"He tastes good, un, don't you think Itachi-san?" Deidara giggled to Itachi. Itachi sighed, putting his forehead to the table, and then bringing it back up to face the long haired blonde.

"I wouldn't know Deidara; I have to say I haven't tried."

"You're missing out, un." Deidara said, moving his hands, palms facing Naruto, towards the boy, his intention to lick Narutos face, but before he could, Naruto jumped up, and at the same time Itachi took a firm hold on Deidaras wrist.

"Leave him alone, Deidara, you've had you fun, he is thoroughly freaked out."

"You always spoil my fun Itachi-san, I was only playing."

Itachi ignored him and motioned Naruto to follow him, which he did eagerly, wearily looking back to see Deidaras glum face, which made Naruto almost feel sorry for him, but not quite.

"Don't worry Naruto, it's a game of sorts that Deidaras made up, he tries to scare as many as people as possible, in various ways, he means no harm, unless told to by leader-sama, he's even tried tp make me scared, he lost though, along with Sasori, but you'd expect that, it's surprising really, Deidara has never tried his tricks on Leader-sama, guess he knows better, anyway you don't need to worry about him." Itachi said, leading Naruto back to his room.

"Ok, that's good then Itachi-sama, Deidara doesn't seem like an akatsuki member at all, except for the fact that he likes to freak people out, why is that?" Naruto replied honestly curious as to why Deidara was so different.

"Well it would most likely be because he wasn't a willing member of the organisation, I fought him to get him in, but he's gotten used to it, he's a good asset to us."

"Oh" was all Naruto said, stepping into the room they just arrived to, and moving to lie on the bed. He lay there, quietly thinking to himself. He opened his mouth again.

"Itachi, will I ever be able to go back to Konoha again?" he asked quietly, mentally preparing himself for the angered words, saying how he never would, but he got an entirely different reaction.

"I'm not sure, maybe, I guess we will just have to see. " Itachi replied just as quietly.

Naruto smiled contently, turning onto his side to see Itachi standing in the corner of the room.

"What are you doing over there?" Naruto asked in wonder, more to himself than to Itachi though.

"I don't want to crowd you too much; I don't know how bad your mental state is considering what's happened." Itachi said as gently as possible, as to not offend the boy.

"My mental state is fine if it's you, come sit on the bed with me."



Itachi stepped closer and sat on the bed, and absentmindedly began playing with Narutos hair as he usually did, this time Naruto made a small noise of content and leaned into the touch. Itachi looked down and his lips turned up slightly into a small smile.

"Mm, I'm going to fall asleep." Naruto murmured drowsily, trying to keep his eyes open, but failing rather badly.

"Go to sleep then Naruto-kun, I'll be here, in the next bed." Itachi moved to get off the bed, but Naruto grabbed his arm forcing him to stay put.

"Stay... please, protect me." Narutos voice was still heavily accented with sleep.

"Ok. Sleep now" Itachi said calmly stroking Narutos hair.

"Ok master, Night" with that Naruto was fast asleep, to his dreams were hopefully no one could harm him, especially when Itachi was right by his side, protecting him, those were his best dreams.

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A/N: Here you go! Chapter 15 for you all, I hoped you liked it . I wrote a bit more than usual but I hope it's ok, I myself actually quite like this chapter, I worked hard for it, I quite like my little Deidara scene lol, gave a bit of humour to it . anyways I hoped you like it. Oh and also for those who haven't, if possible could you do my poll which is on my profile. Sorry if you already have, I put this in my other story as well so if you read that then you may have already voted lol. Anyways hope you like bye-bye xx


	16. Chapter 16

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Sixteen**

_**-Narutos Dream-**_

_"Konoha, I'm back" Naruto whispered to himself, walking further forward. _

_Naruto walked around Konoha wordlessly, searching for a friendly face, but he couldn't see anyone. Iruka was walking past, but he showed no sign of stopping. _

_Saying Naruto was shunned was an understatement. Naruto was at a loss, he didn't know what to do with himself. So many familiar faces yet no one even gave him a second glance. _

_Why did I come back to Konoha? I should have stayed where I knew I was wanted. Naruto thought turning to leave._

_A hand descended on his shoulder, for a minute Naruto was reluctant to turn back around to see the figure, but when he did he saw no one other than Tsunade. _

"_Where are you going?" Tsunade asked, her face stern._

"_I'm leaving, I don't belong here anymore." Naruto replied calmly, trying to remove Tsunades hand, but only to be pulled into an unexpected hug. _

"_Of course you're welcome here. You are from Konoha, you will always belong." _

"_But-but, Iruka, and everyone, they didn't even acknowledge me. They must hate me."_

"_You've got it all wrong; none of that lot acknowledges anyone except me anymore. They all miss you. Go up to them, they'll see you then." _

_Naruto nodded wordlessly and head over to a motionless Kiba and Akamaru. He stood there, waiting patiently, watching to see if Kiba snaps out of his trance, when he didn't Naruto spoke._

"_Kiba?" Naruto waved his hand over Kibas face. "It's me, Naruto, I've come back." That did it and Naruto was once again embraced in a hug._

"_I thought I'd never saw you again, are you okay? Did Itachi hurt you? We tried finding you, we practically looked everywhere, you were nowhere, I'm so sorry, we all let you down-"Kiba gushed rapidly and was about to go on when Naruto shushed him by placing a finger to the boys lips. _

"_Well I'm here now; yes I'm fine Kiba, thank you. No he didn't, it's alright, and no one let me down. Okay Kiba? Don't worry so much. Gee Akamaru has got Huge! "Naruto stopped and gave Kiba a mock suspicious look. "Are you sure that's Akamaru?" Naruto grinned boyishly, returning to his old joking self. Kiba just laughed and ruffled Narutos hair, before hugging him again, before letting go, waving a goodbye and walking off. The scenery changed and he was now with Itachi and he only said one thing, but it was enough for the truth to be told. _

"_I want to stay here, Itachi, with you."_

_**-End Dream-**_

Naruto woke up stunned, slowly sitting up, not noticing Itachi was still where he was last night.

The dream. It didn't make sense. Why would he want to stay with Itachi, rather than in Konoha with all his friends? He couldn't get his head round it. It made his brain hurt. Naruto decided the dreams purpose was meant just to confuse him, it didn't mean anything. Not a thing. Of course it didn't, how could he even think such a thing like that meant something? Sure Naruto had grown to like Itachi, but he would never want to stay with him, if he had the chance to go back to Konoha. Naruto tried to convince himself with no prevail.

Naruto looked around the room, now noticing Itachi was sleeping, still sitting upright on the bed, in the same position he was in last night. Naruto got up quietly as to not disturb him and walked out the door, to the kitchen. He was going to make himself some food, but decided against it, as he hadn't asked Itachi for permission.

Naruto wasn't sure how long it would take for Itachi to wake up, so he slowly crept back into the bedroom. Itachi was shifting around, clearly uncomfortable, seemingly not able to manoeuvre himself into a lying position. Naruto cautiously walked over towards the bed, looking at Itachi thoughtfully before slowly moving him, with his arms around Itachis waist, so he was lying flat on his back. Itachi sighed contently, his still sleep state instantly noticing and welcoming the change of position.

_Itachi must be really exhausted; normally he would have woken by that._ Naruto thought, sitting down on the edge of the bed. Shortly after Naruto sat down Itachi groaned, gradually waking up. Upon opening his eyes, he noticed immediately that Naruto was awake, and staring intently at him.

"How long have you been up Naruto?" Itachi asked, no sign in his voice what so ever.



"Umm, not that long Master, I didn't want to wake you, I've only been up about half an hour." Naruto replied earnestly. Itachi groaned, moving to sit up, it seemed as if Itachi had grown to hate Naruto calling him 'Master'; it didn't seem to fit anymore.

"You don't need to call me Master for a while. I'll tell you when you need to use it again. Okay Naruto-kun? "

"Yes, I understand."

"So Naruto-kun, did you have a good sleep?"

"It was good, thank you, did you?"

"I did as well, so what was your dream about?"

Naruto looked stunned. _Did he know? _Naruto thought.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked, trying to play it cool.

"I heard you sleep-talking so you must have been dreaming" Itachi replied, smirking slightly.

"Oh it was nothing important, you don't need to worry."

"Tell me what it was about Naruto, I heard you say my name, rather I heard you say '_I want to stay here, Itachi, with you'_" Itachi mimicked Narutos voice, and Naruto blushed.

Naruto stayed quiet for a while, willing Itachi to drop the subject, and much to his surprise, Itachi did.

"Are you hungry Naruto?" Itachi asked, already standing up.

"Yeah, I am a little." A second later Narutos stomach growled noticeably, Itachi chuckled.

"Come on then, I'll make you something to eat."

Itachi and Naruto made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen, as soon as they got in Itachi set to work making the food, while Naruto just stood in the door, contemplating whether he should sit at the table, or ask if Itachi needed help, he decided to just sit at the table. Shortly after Naruto sat down the food was done, and they both ate in complete silence. After they were finished, Itachi collected up every bit of the cutlery and put them in the sink, before sitting back down again, across from Naruto.

"Naruto" Itachi said, getting his attention. "Do you want to go back to Konoha?"

Naruto sat there, he was confused. Why would Itachi let him go now? Is Itachi tired of him? Or is Itachi just being nice?

Itachi sat there, waiting patiently while thoughts ran through Narutos mind.

"Well?" Itachi spoke questioningly.

"Why? Why do you want to know? What's going on?" Naruto counteracted

"Do you want to go or not?" Itachi asked, irritated.

"What's brung this on now? There must be a reason."

"I said I heard you sleep-talking, you were talking about it in your sleep. You went back, you were happy. I'll ask you again, do you want to go back to Konoha?"

"I guess, I do miss everyone, and they must be worrying about me."

"Then go" Itachi said, walking out the room, leaving Naruto alone, still sitting at the table.

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**A/N: **Hey here's chapter sixteen for you, sorry I took so long, I had a case of writers block, but I am back on track! I hope you liked it. It wasn't what I wanted, but I wanted to get a chapter out, the next one will be much better and out quicker I promise. Next chapter soon . bye-bye x


	17. Chapter 17

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Seventeen**

Naruto sat there, in shock, had Itachi really just let him go? Just like that? It seemed too simple; it must be some kind of trick, right? Yes that is what it was, a trick. Itachi wasn't really planning on letting him go. How could he be so stupid? He nearly just walked out.

Just as Naruto was about to get up Deidara walked though the kitchen door, upon entering Deidara immediately noticed Narutos troubled expression, and sat down next to him.

"What's wrong, un?" Deidara asked, leaning in, to listen intently. Naruto gave him a weird look.

"Nothing's wrong, I was just leaving." Naruto replied, standing up fully and about to go to the door but before he could, Deidara grabbed his arm, the mouths on his hands immediately making their existence known. Naruto tried furiously to get Deidara off his arm, but he refused to budge despite that.

"Come on Naru-Chan, maybe I can help you, please?" Deidara pouted and Naruto just crumbled and sat back down at the table with a sigh.

"Itachi told me I can leave." Naruto said simply.

"What?! What do you mean Itachi-san said you can leave? Is he ill? That's not like him at all, un. Tell me more." Deidara was just as stunned as Naruto was.

Naruto proceeded in telling Deidara what happened previously with Itachi, for some reason Naruto felt he could trust Deidara, at least a little bit anyway and certainly more than he could trust any of the other akatsuki members. Naruto decided it was because Deidara was a bit like himself, a prankster, and he also wasn't a willing member of the organisation. I'm sure the other Akatsuki members wouldn't think twice to killing him to get the Kyuubi, it was only Itachi stopping them. Naruto was glad for that.

After Naruto told Deidara the event with Itachi, Deidara sat deep in thought.

"Well, maybe, un, he just wants you to be happy, maybe he likes you, un, Itachi-san isn't all that cold-hearted, he can actually be pretty nice when he wants to be. He doesn't often like showing it, un." Deidara explained thoughtfully.

"So what should I do then? Should I leave? Or should I refuse and stay? What if it's a trick, if I leave then another member of your organisation could get me, and kill me for Kyuubi, that could be his plan, so he doesn't have to do it." Naruto rambled on, obviously panicked.

"Naru-Chan, calm down, just go talk to him, then you'll know what's going on for sure."

Naruto nodded his head and wondered slowly up the stairs, up into the bedroom where Itachi was located. Naruto knocked on the door quietly.

"Come in" Naruto heard Itachi say from the other side of the door.

Naruto walked in and as expected saw Itachi sitting on the bed, looking silently out the window.

"Itachi? Are you alright?" Naruto asked cautiously.

"You haven't left yet? Hn you're slow. What do you want?" Itachi wouldn't turn his gaze from the window.

Naruto suddenly got nervous and started stuttering.

"I-I just wanted to say, I don't want to leave, although I miss Konoha, I prefer staying with you, you don't judge me because of the Kyuubi, although if I were someone else you'd probably kill me for it, hell, you might still kill me for it, this could be part of your plan, but the point is I like you. I don't want to go back. "

Naruto breathed again and stood there, waiting for him to respond.

"Are you finished? I have work I need to do." Itachi replied angrily, still not looking at Naruto. Naruto was stunned, what reason does Itachi have to be angry, he'd done nothing wrong, Naruto could feel his own anger rising.

"What's your problem Itachi? Why do you want me to leave? Have you wanted me gone all this time? Am I not useful enough for you?! Come on, answer me." Naruto tried to keep calm but he was failing miserably, he was so frustrated by the way Itachi was acting.

"My problem is you. Of course I want to leave. Is it that hard to understand? I said I'd punish Sasuke for you. What more do you want? Why the hell do you want to stay with me? Get out. I mean it. If you don't leave I wont hesitate to hurt you."

Itachi wasn't giving in, even if in truth he didn't want Naruto to leave, he kept telling himself it was for the best, Itachi Uchiha does not get attached, not to anyone, not even a cute little hyperactive boy. Itachi refused to let Naruto stay with him, he felt he would corrupt the boy; he didn't want to be responsible for that, even though in his mind he knew he shouldn't care either way.

Naruto turned to the door, before looking over his shoulder to say one last thing.

"You want me to leave that bad?" Narutos voice was quiet, he looked utterly sad and defeated and his voice had reflected that perfectly. He would leave if Itachi said yes, he didn't want to be a burden to anyone, he'd felt like he was too many times.

Itachi didn't respond, just stared out the window, either ignoring the boy or just lost in his thoughts. Naruto took the silence as a yes and opened the door, muttering a quiet 'bye' before walking out, refusing to look back as he thought he may cry if he did, he wouldn't do that, ever.

With Naruto gone silence was all that was left now. No enthusiastic voice, chatting in Itachis ear, it was just him and his organisation, time to get real and get on with his job, he would become emotionless again, but for some reason it just didn't feel right anymore.

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**A/N: **hey everyone, sorry for the extra long wait... I was preoccupied with stuff that needed to, but I was determind to get this chapter out. I feel so guilty...But it's here now! Hope you liked. Next one is hopefully out sooner... if not internet hit me... I'll deserve it for keeping you waiting so long lol... anyways hope to hear you thoughts on this chapter. Oh yeah, credit for Homesweethomicide13, cause she helped me out with some of the ideas i was stuck on... Bye-bye xx


	18. Chapter 18

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Eighteen **

**Itachis POV**

Naruto had finally left me alone and I tried to convince myself that I didn't need him, he was too weak to use, to kind-hearted even, and he wasn't even fit for a ninja. I didn't need nor want him; he was just a bother to me. I tried to convince myself I had no regrets about letting him leave, the only regret I have is not killing him that was all. It doesn't matter; I'll just get one of the other Akatsuki members to capture him again. See? Problem solved. I can finally relax now. A thought started forming in my head and I tried to push it away, I didn't want to hear it, but it came anyway and it said I was wrong, I had made a mistake and I was going to regret it, soon. I ignored it.

I lay back on the bed I was sitting on, closing my eyes and thinking about today's events. It had been a long day; I was to some extent, glad it was over. I had just decided I would have an early night, when there was a knock on the door. I stayed silent; maybe whoever it was would leave if I didn't answer. Obviously luck wasn't on my side at this precise moment as Deidara poked his head round the door before walking through the door cautiously after noticing that I was indeed awake.

"Ita-san? Are you okay? Naruto just left un" Deidara asked gently, scared I would get angry most likely.

"I am fine Deidara, I know Naruto just left, I was the one who told him to." I was back to being emotionless, just the way I liked it, not like when Naruto was around , my emotions were all over the place, it was just a nuisance and un-Uchiha like. I looked over to where Deidara was standing by the entrance of my room and noticed he was glancing down at the floor and back up at me occasionally, moving from one foot to another, and looking desperate to say something. I sighed loudly.

"What is it Deidara?"

Deidara looked up startled, obviously he hadn't of realised I was watching him.

"What, what do you mean un?"

"You want to say something, so say it, but be quick I have other things to attend to."

"Um well, was it okay to let Naruto leave un? Naru-chan told me about what you said to him."

"Yes it was fine Deidara, like I said I wanted him to leave. If you excuse me I have other things that need to be doing." I replied agitated, I just wanted to be left in peace with my thoughts, was that so bad? I didn't think so.

"Yes of course Ita-san, I'll leave you to it un" Deidara left after that and I was again left alone. I stayed laying down, staring at the ceiling, thinking about everything and nothing, after what seemed like many hours of just staying in the same position, doing the same thing I decided to go see the rest of the Akatsuki, to set them my own mission.

I walked into the big living room, where all of the Akatsuki were situated and I stood in the doorway, watching them talk quietly among themselves, about me no doubt. I soon grew bored of the excessive chatting and cleared my throat, effectively getting their attention. Deidara looked up startled; shuffling closer to Sasori, Kisame shuffled further away on the coach and the rest of them stared at me, nervously anticipating what I was going to say.

"Obviously didn't notice I was here, pitiful, especially for you _Leader-Sama" _I said to them all, directing the last comment at Pein, staring at them all with cold eyes before speaking again_ "_In a few days I want one of you to capture Naruto again, this time you can obtain the Kyuubi. Don't fail; I want him dead this time." I said my voice fully returned to its detached tone. I had said all I wanted to say and went to walk out the door before I was stopped, by none other than Deidaras large mouth.

"We won't do it, it is obvious that it isn't not what you want un. You'll regret it if we do it un, trust me on this one, you've grown fond of that little blonde."

I moved so fast I was in front of him before he could blink, grabbing him by the front of his cloak, pulling him closer towards me.

"Don't tell me what I'll feel, _you will regret it_" I threatened in a harsh whisper, unable to keep my anger contained.

From the corner of my eye I saw Pein stand and walk over, I ignored him, fixated on glaring at Deidara.

When he reached me he put a hand on my shoulder which I turned to glare at, hoping it would burn off from the intensity of it.

"Itachi" He warned me. "Calm it"

I reluctantly let go of Deidara, him quickly squirming away to hide behind Sasori while I stared at Pein, mentally daring him to say something to anger me more.

"We will not be discussing this any further; we will not take any more action towards that boy for the time being, not until _you _have your head sorted out, Itachi. Understood?" I could tell Pein meant what he said, and I wasn't going to against it, not yet anyway. I simply nodded my head and walked out the room again.

I was so frustrated, they've wanted the Kyuubi for so long now and now they can get it, they don't want it! And what are they going about?! I need to sort my head out? My head is perfectly fine! I am back to how I was before that useless, blonde brat arrived! Ugh I don't understand this organisation!

I knew I needed to calm down but I was finding it difficult with everything happening all at once. I walked into my bedroom quarters, grabbing a book from one of the many shelves in the room and sat myself down in the chair located in the corner of the room; surely reading would calm me down. I sat there, reading until I could slowly feel myself drifting into sleep, which was when I decided to actually go to bed, forget about the day, ignoring the fact that I knew I would still remember this day for a while, and try to go to sleep.

**-Time Lapse few days- **

It had been a few days since Naruto had gone and I was still trying to convince the rest of Akatsuki to capture him again, and they still all refused, especially Deidara, he was the most unwilling to do it. Saying I was frustrated was now an understatement.

I was hungry, so I decided to go into the kitchen to find something that I would actually eat.

As soon as I entered the kitchen, I started raiding the fridge, freezer, cupboards, everything, then I stopped abruptly. Right at the front of one of the cupboards I'd opened was a cup of miso ramen, Narutos favourite, which I had bought Naruto when he was here. I guess he never got round to eating it. I picked it up in my hand and looked at it for what seemed like a long time, but was only about the space of 5 minutes before realising _maybe; _just maybe I missed the blonde brat.

What am I thinking! Uchihas do not miss anyone! They live for themselves and think of no one else, they do not have room in their heads to miss anyone!

I had gotten angry again for the umpteenth time in the space of Narutos assumed return to Konoha and put the cup of ramen at the back of the cupboard before slamming it closed and walking out of the Akatsuki hideout, not even sure I was going, but knowing I had to get away, just for a little while. Maybe it was time to go punish Sasuke.

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**A/N: **Hey Here's Chapter Eighteen for you! Hope you all liked it XD It's out early XD I'm so proud of myself, although I was determined to get this chapter out by the 30th XD with a special reason of course XD I thought I'd get it out sooner especially for 'Patchy' as it's his one year anniversary with his partner so I thought it'd be a cool surprise (even though I had said it could be out 30th XD... But he doesn't know it's for him! Ah Ha!). It's kind of like a present XD well I think so anyway XD but yeah XD here you all go XD and hope everyone likes XD (I hope it's still the 30th over in Texas XD even though he won't see this till the next day XD also I've had very little sleep so that is why I be rambling in case anyone wondered XD... not that many people read these things... oh well, they will miss out on when I'm posting **YAOI**!! Ok I kid, but hopefully it will get everyone's attention and actually read this XD it probably won't 'cause I suck at getting people's attention... ok enough with the rambling now.) Can't wait to hear from you guys, letting me know what you all think and the next chapter should be soon-ish if not them I'm very sorry... forgive me? (in advance, 'cause knowing me I'll take FOREVER!) Bye-bye .


	19. Chapter 19

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Nineteen**

**A/N: Hey everyone, I apologise for the extremely long wait, I had a bit of trouble sorting this chapter out and also have been really busy, with school and coursework and everything, so everything's gone a bit hectic, so for a while you're going to have to put up with my delayed posts. Sorry again. Anyway, this Chapter is basically Chapter Eighteen but in Naruto's POV, so everyone gets a taste of how he feels about everything. Anyway, hope you like. **

**Naruto POV**

After the dispute I had with Itachi, I was quick to leave the Akatsuki hideout. If that was really what he wanted I would go, I wouldn't like it but for him I'd do almost anything. I'm also not going to stay where I'm not wanted. I promised myself. I knew it was too good for it to be true anyway. I'm nothing Itachi cares for. I'll probably be captured by them in a few days. I might as well make the most of what I've got left. I looked back at the Akatsuki Hideout one last time before I slowly started to make my way to Konoha, if I could find the way that is. Although at this moment in time I couldn't really care, I'm not sure if I'm ready to go back to Konoha just yet, I want to be left alone. I'm certain that wouldn't happen if I go back. I suppose it is understandable though, I've been gone for god knows how long and once I'm back, Baa-Chan and Iruka-sensei will most probably be checking up on me frequently.

Lost in my thoughts I aimlessly started walking to my now unknown destination. I couldn't get my mind off Itachi. I didn't want to leave but it was obvious I wasn't wanted. Deidara thought the opposite. Deidara thought, because Itachi _was _getting attached to me, he felt I had to go as he can't let himself like anyone. It made sense, but I couldn't make myself believe it, he doesn't want me, I'm not useful enough for him, or anyone else for that matter. This has happened too many times. I can't give up now though. I'll find someone who wants me permanently, without any ulterior motives either.

I've been walking for what seems like hours and have finally come across familiar surroundings; it would take me about at least a day to get back to Konoha. I might as well stop here for a while.

Spotting a tree I liked I promptly sat under it. I drifted off almost instantly, letting my mind go blissfully blank of all thoughts (well for the time being anyway).

I don't know how long I sat there drifting in and out of sleep for, but when I woke properly, it was dark again, the surroundings around me, were almost a pure black, making it hard for me to see even my hand in front of my face. Even in this darkness I knew I should keep moving, at least for a little, but I feared getting lost. Getting lost meant being in an unfamiliar place filled with people who knew everything about it, leaving me feeling disorientated and vulnerable.

I was torn on what to do, should I stay here and wait till light shines through the clouds, or shall I wander on, in hope of not losing my way and getting to my destination that much quicker? After pondering over this for a few minutes, I decide to wander on. I don't have much time left I presume, and soon I'll have the Akatsuki stalking me. I want to see Iruka-sensei before that happens.

Out of everyone in Konoha I find it is Iruka-sensei I have missed the most. Not surprising though is it? He's like the father I never had. Treating me so kindly, keeping me in check when I needed it. He taught me a lot. Although sometimes I rarely listened and I regret that. Iruka-sensei showed open care for me and treated me better than he did everyone else, he made me feel special. What makes me respect him the most though, is that even though this demon which is sealed inside me killed his parents, he never once treated me as if I were the demon himself, he never thought it was me who killed his parents. I was Uzumaki Naruto to him. Not Kyuubi. It made me happy that Iruka-sensei didn't think like everyone else.

Thinking of Iruka made me wonder. Did Itachi think of me as the Kyuubi, or did he acknowledge that I am just a Jinchuuriki? I suppose he must know I'm not Kyuubi, after all, he and the rest of the Akatsuki members' extract demons, so they must know, or otherwise they would simply kidnap the host. I don't care much at the moment.

I wonder what Itachi is doing right now? Is he thinking about me? Probably not. Why would he? I'm out of his way like he wanted. His words still sting a little, but I don't want to think about them. Not now and probably not anytime soon. Thinking back at my time with Itachi I'm surprised to find how much I had actually matured there – with his help. Before, when I was in Konoha, I suppose you could have called me ignorant and too egoistic for my own good. I thought I could beat anyone in a fight but I know that is not the case now. I will have to train and work my hardest to achieve the best results. I cannot just do it as it comes – I'll have to make strategies and analyse my opponents carefully. I have also learned that I cannot trust everyone who may be or have once been my friend, and sometimes, enemies of others don't have to be enemies of mine. Saying all this doesn't change a thing though; as soon as I go back into Konoha I'll act like my old self, that's the only way the people of Konoha know me, they'd think something is wrong otherwise. I've been thinking too long, I'm started to feeling tired again.

I look around at my surroundings and realise I have lost track of where I was walking. In this darkness I can't be sure of where I am. I panic. This is bad. I'm looking in every direction, hoping even in this blackness I will see something I recognise. No such luck. I curse under my breath. I have to be calm. If I'm not calm I won't be able to think properly and won't be able to get out of this situation. Deep breaths. That's all I need to do, take deep breaths. Breathe in and then out, in and out. Slowly. Evenly. Steadily.

After I get my breathing under control and I'm able to think rationally I strive to locate my vicinity. I know deep down I should wait for the sun to bring light to help me, but I don't want to waste any more time than I already have, it's limited as it is.

**Kit, calm down, I'm quite certain the Akatsuki aren't going to come after you any time soon. **Kyuubis voice inside my head shocked me. The times when he is so quiet and I'm lost in thought, I forget he is there. His words puzzled me.

_How can you be sure Kyuubi? _I ask him. I hear Kyuubi sigh.

**Relax. Just trust me okay? Now, sit down and wait for the sun to come.**

I don't reply, but I do sit down. Kyuubi wouldn't let me get captured, it would hurt him too much, and he must know something I don't.

I was still paranoid. I think no matter what Kyuubi said, that wouldn't change. I just had to make sure I didn't let it get to me.

It took hours for the sun to finally come up, and when it had I realised I knew where I was. I'd walked more than I had expected. It wouldn't be long till I arrived at the gates of Konoha three or five hours, at most. I carried on walking; now knowing I was safe and getting ever closer to 'home'.

-**Skip to arriving at Konoha-**

The walk to Konoha hurt my feet immensely, more than I had anticipated. Although I couldn't wait to rest my feet, I lingered at the gates. I wanted to go in, see Iruka-sensei, and make sure everyone I cared about knew I was okay, but I was scared. I was scared that Konoha wouldn't be 'home' for me anymore.

* * *

**A/N: **Hey. Here you all go, Chapter Nineteen. Hope I haven't lost any readers, for taking so long, I'm incredibly sorry for taking so long. Forgive me? Lol anyway hoped all you liked. Next one will not take as long as this chapter did. I promise. Thanks anyway, and look forward to hearing what you guys thought of it. Till next time ^.^


	20. Chapter 20

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Twenty**

**Narutos POV**

I had stepped into Konoha with only a bit of hesitation, hoping I was just being silly. I wasn't scared that I wouldn't be welcomed back into Konoha, because let's face it, I was never that welcome. I also know I've done nothing wrong so there's no reason Iruka and Baa-Chan wouldn't welcome me back. They were all I needed. I was scared that because I had spent a lot of time with Itachi and had grown to like him a lot, I'm scared that the akatsuki hideout and Itachis house will feel more like home than Konoha, the place I was _born. _Anyway it doesn't matter what I'm feeling. I know what I need to do. I need to pull myself together. Act like my old self. Everything will be okay.

I lifted my head up high in artificial confidence, put on my old grin like a mask and started walking again. To everyone I looked like my 'normal' self, but to me, I knew, knew how different I have really become. I would never be like my old self again, maybe on the outside but certainly not on the inside.

Walking through Konoha I was instantly recognised and people looked at me with unhidden surprise, as if they never expected me to be back. I ignored them and carried on walking on my way to see Tsunade. I have to tell her I'm ok and I'm back.

I was getting closer and closer to the Hokages tower and I was getting nervous. I wanted to run but I knew I couldn't, not now that I've gotten this far. Too soon I was standing just outside the Hokages door. I looked up at the sign on the door and took a deep breath. This is it. My mask still firmly in place I opened the door and walked in. Tsunade was there, head down seemingly working hard and to my surprise as I looked around the room there wasn't any trace of sake anywhere. No empty bottles scattered and no open ones still being drunk from, seems like I'm not the only one who has changed.

She still hadn't noticed me standing in the doorway and I debated leaving her to work and going to see Iruka. I decided against it though because I knew the old me wouldn't care, would have disturbed her work just to be annoying. If I am to convince people with this mask I will have to remember the character I am playing and play it well.

"Baa-Chan! What are you doing working so hard Heh. No sake? Incredible" I laughed out loud cheerfully, so cheerfully I hoped she would pick up on its falseness. Tsunades head shot up and looked at me incredulously. She looked so shocked to see me, like she too had never expected to see me. Ugh just like everybody else. I grinned at her again, waiting for her to reply.

"Naruto! You're back, are you alright? I see Sasuke managed to get you back okay, you seem fine, you weren't hurt were you by the akatsuki were you? I would never forgive them. Where's Sasuke? Is he on his way here? I told him to get back to me as soon as possible, little brat. Sasuke sure got you back quicker than expected. After they re-kidnapped you he thought he had to work harder. I'm glad your home." Tsunade was talking so quickly as she rushed around me, I found it hard to keep up with her words. When she hugged me tightly though, her words sunk into my brain. Sasuke had told Tsunade he was going to get me again for her? How long ago did he say this to her? This must mean he's on his way to the akatsuki, or maybe he was already there. I wondered how Itachi would react to him being at the akatsuki. I wondered how Sasuke would react to find I wasn't there. What if he tried to hurt Itachi? I didn't dwell on that for long though, Itachi is right about Sasuke. He is weak and I knew Itachi was more than capable of taking care of his self. He didn't need me worrying about him. That's right; Itachi didn't need me for anything.

"I'm fine baa-chan, me hurt? You're joking. Uzumaki Naruto doesn't get hurt by anyone! Oh Sasuke? Umm I'm not sure where he is… I escaped the akatsuki by myself, I must have missed him on my way back… I'm sure he'll be back soon though baa-chan. Don't worry. Heh. Anyways baa-chan I'm going to see Iruka-sensei and see if he wants to treat me to ramen dattebayo! Ja ne!" Before she had a chance to speak I quickly left the room, letting my mask fall for a split second before deciding I didn't want to take the chance without it so I quickly replaced my grin and strode naturally to find Iruka.

**-At the Akatsuki Hideout-**

**Itachi's POV**

It had been almost a week since Naruto left here and now with Naruto gone I had little people to talk to, I was still bitter with Kisame for what he had done, and I was bitter with the others as well because they had rejected my request, even though it would benefit them. Deidara is the only one who I will freely talk to in this moment. He has his own reasons for not wanting the Kyuubi captured. He had made a friend out of Naruto. That is true, no matter how much I wanted to deny that fact.

I still had the matter of Sasuke to think about, he will get punished. Severely. Just how will I do it and where? Should I do it in his home, or shall I kidnap him to here and torture him without mercy like he deserves? If I do it in his home it has a certain pain to it, but if I do it here, I have the chance that some of the akatsuki members will help me, even though I won't need it.

There was a knock at my door interrupting my thoughts and I stared at the door for a moment before getting up and staggering on my numbed legs and opening the door to reveal none other than Deidara.

"What is it?" My voice was plain and emotionless as usual. Deidara smiled slightly and lightly pushed me aside and walked in. I watched him go and sit on my bed crossed-legged and raised my eyebrow at him. He still hadn't said anything. I closed my door and sat beside him. I sighed and looked at him. "What is it Deidara?"

"I thought you might have wanted some company and I know you're angry at everyone, so I thought I might be the best person to be here for you. Un" Deidara faced me more fully and locked eyes with mine. I knew he was right, but it would seem so out of character for me to be suddenly all willing to have Deidara for company. I can handle being on my own. It may even do me good, gives me more time for myself to think, not that I haven't thought enough this last few days. I realised I had been silently staring at Deidara for a bit too long. I stood up abruptly walking to the door, opening it wide.

"No, I am fine. I'm doing planning. Leave." I know I sounded cold and uncaring, but that was the only way to get through to this particular blonde haired artist. Instead of getting up though, Deidara tilted his head in slight confusing and once again opened his mouth to speak.

"What you planning for?" He pondered in thought for a second. "You're not… you're not planning to capture Naruto are you? Leader-sama wouldn't be pleased with you; he could kick you out un." I laughed shortly at his absurd thought and shook my head at him.

"No, that would be foolish. I am spending planning time on how to punish Sasuke. I don't go back on my promises. That was something I promised Naruto. I would appreciate it Deidara if you would leave now." Deidara went quiet on me and before I could persist more, he nodded and walked out. I watched him walk down the hallway before closing the door again and going to sit by the window.

Sitting there I suddenly looked over to the bed where Naruto used to sleep and remembered everything from past events. I remembered something that could be helpful, which could work. Narutos dream. Yes I've decided that's what I'll do. I'll do it as soon as possible.

I stood up and put on my cloak and for the first time today, walked out of the room. I walked through the house, checking rooms as I went along before walking into the lounge, where all the akatsuki members I was looking for were. Their heads turned in my direction as I walked in. Deidara turned away first and the others followed.

"I have a mission I must do. I'll be leaving as soon as I can." Deidara didn't look fazed, he knew what it was, but the others looked at me surprised and curious. Pein reacted first. He stood up with authority.

"You will do no mission unless it is cleared with me. Now, what is it?" I knew this was going to happen. Pein is and as long as he is able to, the leader. I sat down in the nearest chair. This might take a while, might as well make myself comfortable.

"I'm making it my mission to go after Sasuke. My mission is to track him down and torture him until I am satisfied. There will be no talking me out of it." I knew from the look I received that he wasn't going to argue with me on this one. I think he automatically knew why this was so important. From the corner of my eye I saw Deidaras lips form a small knowing smile.

"I will have Kisame accompany you. When are you leaving?" I was about to respond, explaining I have no wish to have Kisame with me, I was to do this on my own and explain that I was leaving immediately, when another voice interrupted me.

"There's no need." My head swivelled round in the direction the voice was and was surprised to see it was Kakuzu who had spoke. I was confused as to what Kakuzu meant, and it must have shown on my face, because he continued. "To leave, I mean. You may want to check the west gate before making any rash decisions."

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**A/N: **Hey! Here's chapter twenty for you. Hope you all liked it. Sorry I took a while. At least it's up. Look forward to hearing your thoughts towards this chapter! Hope you had a good Christmas and New Year. Till next time. Bye-Bye ^.^ xx


	21. Authors Note

**Just an Authors note **

Hey guys, sorry I haven't updated in a very long time, My laptop has been broken, and I have only just got it back, I will try get a chapter out for you all as soon as I can, I hope you can be patient with me, as it may take me a little while to get back on track. I will make sure this next chapter is worth your time. Thanks to all the readers who's stuck with me throughout my delayed chapters. Sorry again about the delay.

BelieveIt


	22. Chapter 21

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

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**In The Not-So Safe Arms Of Itachi Chapter Twenty One**

**A/N: **Hi BelieveIt here, I'm back! Sorry this has taken forever to get out; work and exams have taken a lot of time so I haven't had much spare to write this. The next few chapters might as well be delayed, for the same reasons, exams. Please bear with me. Anyway the reason I'm posting up here is because this chapter is extremely graphic, there is a lot of violence and some may perceive it as a bit twisted. There is a warning note just before the scene so if you don't wish to read it, just skip and imagine Sasuke punished ^^, anyway on to the chapter, hope you like.

**(Continuation of Itachis POV)**

Kakuzu, who was often quiet had told me to check the west gate before I left, meaning he knew something that is of some importance there. Knowing this I was still hesitant to take his advice, I needed to find Sasuke quick, I was in a rush to hurt him. I decided to listen to Kakuzu, he wouldn't waste my time. I nodded silently at Kakuzu and walked out of the room, in the direction of the west gate.

When I arrived there I could see nothing significant or out of place, it made me wonder what I was supposed to be looking for. I stood there for another five minutes before I noticed something, no, _someone _was heading my way. I instantly knew who it was and I mentally thanked Kakuzu for telling me to go here. Sasuke was heading towards me fast. Most likely to try retrieve Naruto again, well he's in for a surprise. Let the plan begin.

Sasuke was in sight now and I was sure he had already seen me. Soon he was right in front of me.

"I've come for what belongs to me, Naruto. Hand him over." Sasukes voice was menacing, but that didn't faze me. He had said Naruto belonged to him, which was far from the truth, if anything Naruto belonged to me.

"Naruto doesn't belong to you. He's gone anyway. Sorry little brother, you were a bit too late." I smirked at him. He stared at me in shock before flying at me with his fists. I quickly grabbed his fist and drew him in, punching him in the stomach effectively winding him. While Sasuke was trying to catch his breath I dragged him through the Akatsuki, none too gently, to Hidans ritual room. I didn't want my room covered in blood. Sasuke started struggling in my tight grip to no avail. I roughly shoved him through the room, causing him to stumble to his knees on the floor. "Foolish little brother." I sneer.

He glared up to me and rose to his feet, already in a fighting stance. I sighed in exasperation and promptly knocked him back to the ground, coughing up blood. He still looked up at me defiantly but didn't try get up again. I stepped closer towards him slowly and crouched so I was eye level with him.

"Do you know why I'm doing this little brother?" I asked in a low voice. He didn't respond, staring at me clueless. "You kidnapped Naruto, you know I know you did, and you hurt him, I'm going to return that favour." He growled and shifted as if he was going to get up but I gripped his hair tight, making him yell in pain and shock, and dragged him to the corner of the room where there was a chair situated that I had put there earlier. I pulled him up to sit in the chair and secured him tightly with rope that was already tied to the chair I had placed there. I circled the chair slowly. I realised I had forgot the most important item for this and walked out of the room to retrieve it.

Walking into the kitchen I retrieved my selected item. A bonding knife. The Akatsuki had this knife specifically for this kind of use. I grabbed it, twirling it in my hand before walking out of the kitchen, before I made my way back to Hidans ritual room; I made a quick detour to where the other Akatsuki members were. I stood in the doorway.

"Hidan." I called out to him, causing him to stop his conversation with Kakuzu and turn towards me with a raised eyebrow. "You're ritual room is going to be in use. Don't disturb me." I could hear his objections loudly as I walked back to the ritual room where Sasuke was secured. I walked calmly up to him and point the sharp knife between the boys' eyes and slowly and menacingly trail it down the boys' nose, to his lip, to his throat, silently, being careful not to cut the flesh, I wasn't ready to start the torture just yet. Sasukes eyes were wide with shock and fear, but I find it's not enough; I don't want fear to show in his eyes, I want them to show he's terrified. I trail the blade across the right of his throat to his shoulder where I abruptly jerked the knife into his flesh. Sasuke screamed out in pain. I dragged the knife, slightly harder than before making shallow cuts in Sasukes flesh, to his arm. I crouched low and dug the knife in his hip. The pain and terror was clear in his eyes now, yet I was still not satisfied, it wasn't enough, he hasn't suffered enough. I knelt in front of him and placed the tip of the knife gently to his groin area.

"Hey. Sasuke, how bout I pierce here? Wasn't this place one of the causes of Narutos' pain? I think it was." Sasuke was now pleading with me not to do it and I growled low in my throat. "If you don't shut up I'm going to gag you." He immediately closed his mouth but kept on whimpering, I growled again but let it pass. I moved the knife away from his groin. Another time I will.

I don't know how long I was in there for, brutally stabbing my dear little brother in random places, being careful not to stab anywhere it could kill him, I want him alive. He was growing quieter now, have no energy to make loud pained noises. In a way I was a bit disappointed, I liked hearing his pain, but I was relieved also as it gave me more concentration. I kneeling know lifting up Sasukes foot, ready to stab through it when there was pounding on the door.

"Itachi, hurry the fuck up, I want to fucking pray to Jashin-Sama." Hidans voice was high and whining, and I sighed. Knowing Hidan he won't stop whining until he gets his own way. I ignored him; hopefully he will leave me alone. I viscously stabbed the knife upwards through the sole of Sasukes foot, making him yell out in surprise and pain. I smirked. Now that's the reaction I've been waiting for. The pounding on the door started again. "Bastard let me fucking in! I want to pray. This is my ritual room damn it!" I contemplated ignoring him again when I suddenly had a thought. I walked up to the door, unlocked it and opened it slightly.

"I have a sacrifice for you to give to Jashin. Just don't kill him." I opened the door wider to show Hidan the mess which was Sasuke. Hidan grinned widely and stepped inside hungrily lightly licking over his bottom lip. I moved outside of the room letting Hidan know I wasn't going to be supervising, I know how much he hates that. "Hidan, just make sure it's painful." Hidan smirked.

"For who? Me or him?" I shook my head at him but smirked back. Knowing he would do this task well. I walked away from the door pleased and waited a little up the hall until I heard a piercing scream coming from Sasuke. It had begun.

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_**Warning:**__ Hey, homesweethomicide13 here! BelieveIt and I had an agreement that I would write the following scene, so as such I am here to warn you of its content! As it's Hidan, you should expect foul language etc, etc, but also – there's a bit of gore/violence going on, a LOT of blood, and undertones of sexual torture. Now, BelieveIt told me that a few of you aren't comfortable with that sort of stuff, so I deliberately skimmed over it so it's barely noticeable. Literally, you have to kinda squint to see it, so there shouldn't be any problems there XD Hope you enjoy it, and I hope you don't think I'm too twisted or anything… XD_

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**Hidan's POV**

I kicked the door closed behind me, lifting my rosary to my lips and saying a quiet prayer to Jashin-sama before slowly advancing on the bloodied brat in the chair. He was shivering in fear, most likely from the ordeal Itachi had already put him through. I smirked, knowing that this kid had no idea just how bad things were going to get.

"So… you're Itachi's little brother, hmm?" I circled the chair, trailing the tips of my fingers over the back of his neck. He shuddered and tried to jerk away from my touch, which amused me.

"Stay away from me." Sasuke whimpered. I laughed harshly.

"That's fucking brilliant. I'm going to fucking enjoy this so damn much…" I knelt in front of him, staring deep into his dark eyes. Terror flashed in the black orbs and a grin slowly spread across my face. "What's wrong, Sasuke-kun? You fucking scared?" I lifted a hand to one cheek, wiping some blood from a minor wound beneath his eye. "You should be. The real nightmare is about to begin." I brought my finger to my lips and gently smeared the blood onto my bottom lip, holding back the urge to lick it off. "Jashin-sama will be pretty pissed when I don't kill you, so I'd better make this as good as it can be."

"You talk too much." Sasuke growled, but it was weak. He could act tough all he liked, but I saw through it. He was terrified of me, and terrified of what I was going to do to him. He'd probably never heard of me before, and most likely had no idea what I was capable of, but after hearing the word 'sacrifice', I guess he figured out that I wasn't exactly friendly.

"You know, my partner says that all the time. Heathen bastard." I scowled. "He just doesn't fucking appreciate the way I do things." I picked up one of the blades on the floor beside the chair and placed it beside Sasuke's lips. "But you'll appreciate it, won't you, Sasuke-kun?" He must have seen something in my eyes, because the tough act was instantly dropped and he nodded frantically. "Good. Now, let's begin." I licked the drying blood from my lip and watched my skin change colour, turning into the black and white markings of my curse form. Sasuke was staring at me with wide eyes, and I smirked at him. "Bear with me a sec, will ya?" I stood up and walked to a broken closet against one wall, picking out one of my retractable pikes. I returned to the spot in front of Sasuke, and jammed the end of the pike into my hand. Sasuke cringed at the sight. Slowly, I drew the Jashin symbol on the ground around the chair, meaning Sasuke was sat in the middle of the triangle.

"What are you going to do to me?" His voice was weak and feeble, full of fear. I bent down to murmur in his ear.

"I'm going to show you true pain." And then I drove the pike through my right thigh, listening to his shrill scream and enjoying the pain radiating through my body. I knew Itachi would be somewhere outside, listening. Well, I'd give him something to bloody well listen to. "Hurts, right?" I asked the raven-haired boy. "You're just fucking lucky Itachi wants you alive." I yanked the pike out of my thigh and held the bloodied tip in front of his eyes. "Where do you want it next, pretty boy?" With a manic laugh, I aimed it at my left hip and slammed it home, watching Sasuke writhe in pain. Tears fell from his eyes and blood dribbled from one corner of his mouth. The crimson fluid looked so bright on his pale skin, and so enticing… I leant forward and licked the blood away slowly, savouring the metallic taste. I growled low in my throat – the taste and scent of blood always got me going. Sasuke cringed and turned his head away, exposing his pale throat.

I bit through my bottom lip, trying hard to restrain myself. If I gave in, I might not be able to stop. I prayed for Jashin-sama to give me strength, but I knew the prayer was in vain. Jashin-sama wanted this as much as I did. Twisting the pike still embedded in my hip, I jerked forward and latched my teeth onto the pale flesh where Sasuke's neck met his shoulder, drawing blood in an instant. Sasuke's screams were music to my ears, and I latched on harder, before snapping my head back and tearing the flesh. Blood gushed from the wound, splashing onto my face. Almost losing control of myself, I thrust my fingers into the wound, twisting them around and ripping at the muscle beneath. Letting go of the pike, I latched my nails onto an open gash on his chest and tore down. The warm blood cascaded down over my hand and forearm, pooling on the floor. I lowered my head and plunged my tongue into the hot cavern beyond, lapping at the crimson wine that still gushed out towards me.

"Fuck…" The pain was so intense that I was in pure ecstasy. Blood trickled down my chin and I raised my head so I could look into the Uchiha's eyes. "I bet your brother is listening, Sasuke. Why don't you give him a scream, for me?" Laughing darkly, I ripped the pike out of my hip, my head tilting back with pleasure as Sasuke screamed once again. It had been far too long since I'd had this much fun with a victim of my curse. Perhaps, in future, I'd play with them a little first…

"Please…"

"Pleading already, are we?" I laughed again. "Fucking pathetic." I grabbed his face in one hand and forced him to look at me. "I heard about what you did to Naruto-kun. You bastard, not even Kakuzu is that cruel." Anger flared up inside me. I hadn't really interacted much with the Kyuubi kid, but I knew he hadn't deserved that sort of treatment. "Would you like to know how it fucking feels?" Sasuke's eyes widened as he caught on to what I was going to do to him. My eyes caught sight of the knife still rammed through Sasuke's foot and I tore it out, ignoring his cries as I cut through the bonds that tied him to the chair. I stood up and grabbed him by the throat, forcing him to stand up. He winced as he stepped onto his injured foot, but I ignored him and kicked the chair away, breaking one of the legs off as I did so. I kicked him to the ground and held him there with one foot whilst I shed my Akatsuki cloak – already covered in blood from the wounds I had inflicted upon the both of us. Sasuke gazed up at me in fear, but I saw his eyes travel down over my blood-spattered body. Holding the point of the pike to his throat as a silent threat, I knelt over him and bent so that our faces were only inches apart.

"Please… don't…"

"Oh I will. And I'll fucking enjoy it, too." I growled, tossing the pike to one side. I picked up a second knife, wielding one in either hand now, and slowly carved the symbol of Jashin into his abdomen. The second knife dug into the flesh above his groin, fresh blood leaking out and pooling along the waistband of his pants. With a snarl, I ripped them from his body, tossing them to one side. Now I trailed the blades along the insides of his thighs, leaving a thin line of blood in their wake. Without warning, I flipped him onto his stomach, relishing the sounds of his pain-filled screams as his exposed wounds collided with the hard floor. The sight of him lying there, exposed and surrounded by my favourite bodily fluid, really got to me, and I felt my heartbeat quicken. "Ohh… fuck…" In seconds I was above him, tearing at him, ripping, biting, stabbing… He screamed in rhythm, tears spilling from his eyes in quick succession, blood spraying the floor in front of him as he coughed up more and more blood.

"Fuck!" It was the only word I could apparently say coherently. It was repeated again and again, over and over, in varying degrees of volume. When at last my desire had been met, I collapsed to the floor beside him, lying on my back in the spreading crimson puddle. I was out of breath, but still in ecstasy. Beside me, Sasuke lay as I'd left him, shivering and trembling, barely conscious. With a sick smile, I reached for my pike. It was time to end this. Grasping the pike tightly, I positioned it over my heart and prepared to make the final hit. I was about to thrust it through my ribs when the door opened and Itachi glared at me.

"Hidan! I wanted him alive, remember?" I scowled.

"Aw, shit. Way to ruin the fucking moment." Furious, I jumped to my feet and pointed at Itachi with the pike. "I swear, Red Eye, if you ever interrupt me again while I'm fucking in the middle of a sacrifice…"

"Shut up, Hidan. You've done your job." Itachi replied calmly.

"Now get out, and put some damn clothes on. If you need to vent, go and find Kakuzu." Snarling, I tossed the pike down and picked up my discarded cloak.

"I fucking will." I snapped at him. Saying a quick prayer to Jashin-sama, I cut off the link between myself and Sasuke, and my skin returned to its normal colour. I met the Sharingan eyes of Itachi and a dark smile crossed my face. "I totally ripped him a new asshole." I went to push past the older Uchiha brother, but Itachi caught my arm.

"Nice work." He added in a low murmur. Smirking, I stepped around him. I didn't need to tell him that it had been my pleasure. He already knew.

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**A/N: **It's safe to look now if you didn't read the torture scene ^^

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**Itachi's POV **

I closed the door behind Hidan as he left and turned to look at my brother, a mess on the floor, unconscious. I walked up to his body and knelt down next to him, in the blood that surrounded him. Staring at him, an unimaginable hate settled into my stomach, for what he had done. At least the favour has been returned now. I tilted my head a little still looking at him, pondering. I lifted his head up and spoke roughly to his unconscious form.

"This is what you get, little brother. I hope you've learnt your lesson." I let go of his head, letting it smack to the ground before sighing and throwing him over my shoulder, walking into the living room where only Pein sat. I put Sasuke down on the floor. "Get him to Konoha. With a note. He is to be an example for those that harm Naruto. Make sure he's still alive when he arrives. I'm going out." Pein stared up wordlessly at me as I walked out; I knew he'd do as I say. He respects me when I ask for something. I walked out of the Akatsuki hideout and wandered aimlessly, not having a clear destination of where I wanted to go; I just needed to get away for a small amount of time. I stopped by a small clearing and wandered down it, I knew where it led of course, I have checked out every path, every route I find here. When I got to the end of the clearing, it was just as I expected. A wooded area with fallen trees, nothing special but it was nice to sit here. Of course all the Akatsuki knew this place, probably knew that I would be here but they wouldn't come get me unless they had to.

Sitting on one of the fallen trees I stare blankly ahead, not really seeing. I just needed the air.

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**A/N: **And here is chapter 21! Hope everyone liked it. I put a lot of effort into this one. Oh and also a big credit to homesweethomicide13 who had the great pleasure of writing Hidan's POV. Hope to hear what you readers think and I'll try my hardest to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but as I said, with exams it is going to be difficult, I hope you can all be patient with me. Anyway bye for now.

BelieveIt.


	23. Chapter 22

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

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**In The Not-So Arms of Itachi Chapter Twenty Two**

**A/N: **Hi guys, BelieveIt here, I'm so sorry about not updating sooner, as you all know my laptop has been broken, and the laptop I was using didn't have access to any document program, I did however manage to write a little at a friend's, but I had to unfortunately go home, and I didn't get very far. That problem (as you can see) has been resolved (YAY) and here is the next instalment. Hope this chapter is worth the wait though and hope you all like it ^_^ and again sorry for the inconvenience that it caused. BelieveIt

**(In Konoha, Normal POV)**

It had been two days since Sasuke had eligibly gone to retrieve Naruto and he still hadn't returned. This worried Tsunade, who was sitting at her desk wondering what was happening to her village, everything seemed to be falling apart and crumbling. It was in that moment she realised, it all came down to Sasuke. If he hadn't of left maybe none of this would have happened.

Tsunade dropped her head onto her desk. No. It wasn't fair to put the blame on Sasuke; this would have happened eventually, Sasuke being here or not.

The door to Tsunade's office burst open and Anbu ninjas rushed in.

"Hokage-Sama! We've found Sasuke, but he's not in good shape, he needs your help, come quick!" by the time the ninja had finished speaking Tsunade had already got off her chair, collected her equipment and was rushing out of the room, the man following quickly after her.

In the medic room, Sasuke looked a bloody, mutilated mess and Tsunade swallowed down bile and smiled grimly at the now conscious Sasuke. He looked bad, really bad. Tsunade dropped down beside him.

"You need to take better care; otherwise one of these days it'll be your last." Sasuke grunted in response and she sighed. "Now, let's get you all healed up."

Using her chakra, she began healing him, starting with the worst. Tsunade swore under breath. He had so many; she knew that she wouldn't be able to heal all of them.

After the worst of his wounds were healed up, he was left to rest. As Tsunade was walking to her office one of the Ninja's stopped her.

"Uh, Hokage-Sama?" Tsunade didn't stop walking, but motioned with her hand to follow. When they arrived to her office, she sat down at her desk, poured herself some sake and with a raised eyebrow stared at him expectantly, not saying a word. "We found a note when we found Sasuke." Tsunade still remained silent, instead held out her hand. The ninja fumbled to get the note out of his pocket and when he did he handed it to her.

Tsunade opened the piece of paper carefully, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

_This is what happens to those who hurt Naruto, I will know, keep that in mind. _

Hurt Naruto? Who, except the Akatsuki themselves, would hurt Naruto? And why was Sasuke the example? Was it simply because he was there? Wrong place, wrong time sort of thing? It had to be. Sasuke had never, that she knew, hurt Naruto intentionally, more than their occasional fights, certainly not enough for _that _sort of cruelty, surely. Tsunade was still confused about one more thing. Why would the Akatsuki or one of their members threaten the villagers and ninjas of Konoha about hurting Naruto, when their very intention is to kill him to extract the Kyuubi? It just didn't make sense. She needed to talk to Naruto, maybe he knew something vital.

Tsunade looked up, suddenly remembering that the ninja was still standing patiently, waiting for the words of what to do next.

"You can leave. Go to Narutos apartment and tell him to come to my office as soon as he is able to. I need to talk to him." The man nodded, bowed and then left to retrieve Naruto. Tsunade sighed and held her head in her hands. What a mess. She just hoped that everything would be resolved soon, before it was too late and beyond repair.

**(Narutos Apartment)**

Naruto woke to loud, urgent knocking on his door. Groaning, he rolled over and covered his head with a pillow in hopes of blocking out the annoying noise and whoever was there would get the hint and leave him alone, to sleep. As usual, no such luck. Naruto swore softly and got out of bed, grumbling while he walked to the door about 'inconsiderate people disturbing his sleep and waking him up'

Naruto opened the door, too tired to notice who it was and just groggily asked what they wanted. It was only when the person spoke that Naruto was on sudden alert.

"Naruto, Hokage-Sama wishes to speak to you, she says as soon as possible, it's urgent." The ninja gushed out and then swiftly left, leaving Naruto slightly bewildered until the words sank in properly.

Naruto was suddenly awake and quickly ridding himself of his pyjamas and into his usual clothes. He hurriedly ran out of the door with one thought lingering in his mind.

_What did she want that was so urgent? _

**(Tsunade's office)**

Twenty minutes had passed since Tsunade sent that Anbu ninja to collect Naruto for her, and the young brat had only just arrived, knocking nervously on the office door.

"Come in, Naruto." Tsunade called out, and Naruto walked in, shutting the door firmly behind him. There was a moment of silence, in which both held each other's gaze, trying to work out what the other was feeling. Naruto cleared his throat slightly.

"You wanted to see me, Baa-chan?" He said at last. Tsunade waved a hand at the chair in front of her desk.

"Sit down. This is very important." Naruto nodded and sat down. With a sigh, Tsunade dropped what looked like a piece of paper in front of him, and he picked it up to look at it. His blood ran cold and fear rose up in him as he took in the photograph of a battered and bruised Sasuke. "That's after I healed the worst of his injuries. He was found earlier today in the woods, bleeding and broken." She gave him a minute to fully comprehend what he was seeing.

"Do you know who did this?" He asked in a quiet whisper. Tsunade placed another piece of paper down in front of him.

"This was left with Sasuke when he was found." Naruto read the note, and a new feeling began to spread through him. He may not have been with Itachi for long, but he recognized the choice of wording – blunt, just how Itachi liked to deliver things. "Do you know why this was done, Naruto? Is there any reason why someone would want to hurt Sasuke like that?" Mental images of what Sasuke had done to him flooded his mind.

"Sasuke… he hurt me." He mumbled.

"Really? Did you have another one of your fights?" Tsunade watched Naruto's face closely, waiting to see any flicker of emotion that would tell her just how bad the situation was.

"Sort of." He shrugged, not wanting to go into detail.

"So why would someone want to hurt Sasuke like this? Is there something you need to tell us, Naruto?" He considered telling Tsunade about Itachi, and the Akatsuki, but decided against it.

"I don't know." He was lying. Tsunade could tell. But Naruto didn't lie for nothing – there was something he wanted to keep to himself and she respected that. He would tell her in his own time. She just hoped it wouldn't be too late by then.

"If you learn anything about this, you must tell us immediately. Is that understood? We need to find out who did this and why." Naruto nodded. "You may leave now." He stood up, putting the note and photograph of Sasuke back on the desk as he did so. As he left the office, his mind wandered to Itachi. Had Itachi hurt Sasuke as punishment for what Sasuke had done to _him_? Those injuries… although most of them had been healed, there were a few that had surprised him. He knew Itachi was cruel, after all he was in Akatsuki, but he didn't think Itachi was the type to sexually abuse Sasuke, especially since they were brothers.

"He must have had help." Naruto murmured to himself. But from who? His partner, Kisame? No, it couldn't be him. He'd seen Kisame at work before. Definitely not his style. He didn't really know many more of the Akatsuki members, but he got the impression that only a couple of them were that sadistic. He sighed. Seeing Sasuke broken and bruised had really hit him hard. Although a part of him was glad that he'd been hurt, and felt that he'd deserved it, there was still the side of him that cared for Sasuke as a friend, and he felt sorry for the Uchiha. He'd been corrupted by Orochimaru for many years, so surely it wasn't all his fault.

The main question was, why did Itachi go so far to punish his little brother?

Did Itachi actually care about him? He'd said he would punish Sasuke for hurting him, but Naruto had simply thought he would fight him again, maybe repeat what had happened the first time Naruto had met Itachi. No. If Itachi cared so much, why had he told him to leave? Unless… maybe Deidara had been right. Maybe Itachi just wanted him to be happy. He'd said that he'd missed Konoha, and his friends, and maybe Itachi felt that it would be better for him to return. There was an ache in his chest as he thought about Itachi.

He missed him. Truly missed him. Which was strange, because he'd thought he'd be happy here, in his home. Although… was it home now? Had it ever really felt like home? He thought about his friends, the original Rookie Nine, and how far they'd all come together. Then his thoughts returned to Itachi, and the time he'd spent at the Akatsuki. He'd found a somewhat strange friend in Deidara after the long talk they'd had, and he actually found himself wanting to get to know the other members too.

He was shocked to find himself justifying their actions. Yes, they were cold-blooded, murderous criminals… but something had happened to them to make them that way. Someone had wronged them in their past, and now they were getting their own personal revenge. It sounded perfectly normal to Naruto. And that worried him. Would he rather spend his life surrounded by the outcasts of the ninja world?

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know the answer to that.

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**A/N: **Here you go, hope you all liked, I put a lot of hard one into this, to try make it worth the wait, hope I managed to succeed, I needed some help finishing this, so credit to homesweethomicide13 who did indeed help me very much. Anyways hope to hear your comments soon and here what you think. And hopefully you should get another chapter out quicker ^^

Bye-Bye

~BelieveIt


	24. Chapter 23

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

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**In The Not-So Arms of Itachi Chapter Twenty Three**

Naruto had been in his apartment all day for the past two days, trying to figure out exactly why Itachi would do what he did for him. The only reason that seemed to make sense was he either cared for him or he only did it because he felt he had to, if the reason was the latter then why did Itachi write that note? Surely it didn't matter to him. Itachi didn't even like him. Nothing seemed to make sense to him anymore. Naruto wondered if he was over thinking things.

Knocking on his apartment door jolted Naruto out of his thoughts. It wasn't an urgent knocking, it wasn't loud or insistent. Naruto started to ignore it but eventually decided against it. He hadn't seen anyone in the two days he's been cooped up, whoever was at the door must be worried. Sighing softly, he got up and trudged slowly to the door. After another soft knock he opened the door. On his porch stood there was Iruka and Kakashi, Kakashi's arm around Iruka's waist. Kakashi raised his hand in greetings.

"Hello Naruto-kun. How are you? We've barely seen you since you've been back." Iruka sounded genuinely concerned for him. It warmed Narutos heart knowing that Iruka, who he classed as family, was still worried about him enough to come over and check on him.

"Iruka-sensei! I'm good, I've just been trying to get used to being home again." Even though he was pleased to see the two of them, talking about his apartment and Konoha as his home made him want to cringe. He hoped he looked cheerful enough to fool Iruka, if anyone would see through him, it was Iruka. Naruto was right, Iruka had known Naruto long enough to know there was something wrong with him, something Naruto wasn't telling him or anyone for that matter, and he was determined to find out what that was. "So, Iruka-sensei, what are you doing?"

Iruka smiled softly at Naruto. "I was, or uh, Kakashi and I were wondering if you wanted to go out for ramen today, our treat?"

Although he didn't really feel like going out or eating ramen he didn't want to say no, it was clear Iruka was worried about him. He needed to try to reassure Iruka that he was alright. He grinned up at Iruka and hugged him.

"Yeah! Thank you Iruka-sensei, let me just get my shoes on" the young blonde turned around and rushed into his bedroom, already feeling slightly eager to spend time with his favourite sensei's. Maybe today Naruto wouldn't need to put up his act and be generally happy. Naruto put on his shoes. He took a deep breath to ease the feeling of anxiety in his chest. As he was walking out of his bedroom he heard hushed whispers coming from the lounge and when he walked in he saw Iruka and Kakashi sitting close to each other on his sofa after obviously having invited themselves in to wait. The whispering stopped at once. He ignored it. "Okay let's go!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, tugging Iruka and Kakashi, by each of their arms, out of his apartment. Iruka and Kakashi exchanged a look. "Ramen, ramen, ramen!" Naruto chanted skipping forward.

As Naruto bounded ahead of them, Kakashi moved closer to Iruka and gently touched his hand with his. Iruka smiled softly and nodded, as if in answer to a question that no one but him heard. The bond those two shared, rivalled the bond of any married couple. Although they weren't together every second of the day, when they were together you could tell that they loved each other enough to be truly lost if one of them were to disappear from their life. It was a beautiful thing to see. Iruka and Kakashi were just grateful that Konoha was one of the most accepting of places; they didn't have to worry about hiding the love they had for each other.

Once the three of them arrived to Ichiraku Ramen Bar, Teuchi and Ayame immediately rushed over to greet and hug Naruto, telling him how much they had missed what they considered their favourite customer, they also told him that today's ramen was on the house, especially for him, in celebration of his final return. Naruto thanked them gratefully and ordered. He only ordered half as much as he used to, and it was instantly noticed.

"Not hungry Naruto?" Iruka queried gently and Naruto swallowed a mouthful of ramen before answering.

"What? Oh. No, I think my stomach must have shrunk a little while I was with the Akatsuki." That was the only excuse that he could think of that made any sense. Iruka smiled grimly and patted his shoulder comfortingly; he hated to imagine what it was like in the Akatsuki for Naruto. He was just amazed that they had kept him alive, instead of extracting the Kyuubi as soon as they had him in their grasp. Iruka knew he just had to concentrate on making sure Naruto is as happy as he can ever be. No matter what it cost. After all, Naruto was like a son to him.

"Well you don't have to worry about that anymore, I'll make sure you get things back to normal." Iruka spoke as if he was talking to an upset child, trying to make them believe everything is, or would be, alright. That annoyed Naruto. He wasn't acting like someone upset. As far as anyone was concerned he was back to his normal self. And Iruka especially was supposed to think the same, but he just knew him too well not to be able to tell what he was feeling. It left Naruto thinking what he would have to do to change that.

Throughout the meal Iruka watched Naruto, analysing him to see if he could catch a glimpse of something unusual. Kakashi at one point nudged him gently, pointing to Iruka's untouched ramen. He grinned sheepishly up at his lover and ate. Admittedly Iruka wasn't the only one worried. Kakashi certainly was as well, but he knew how to disguise it well enough. Kakashi knew that if Naruto saw how concerned he really was, there was the chance that Naruto, to mask what's wrong, could withdraw from them completely, and there would be nothing that could be done about it. Kakashi carried on eating quietly, looking over at Iruka once again to make sure Iruka wasn't staring blatantly at Naruto again.

When the three of them finished eating they talked idly, not really making any sense in the way of conversation, just talking for the sake of it. During their talk, several of Naruto's old friends passed by and stopped for a few moments to chat, asking him how he was and telling them how much they'd missed him. Naruto took it all in and replied with excitement, trying everything to mask the confusion he felt. He wanted to get back to his apartment where he could be alone, having had enough for one day. Kiba stayed longer than all the others, an obvious sign that the firm friendship they'd built up since the Chuunin Exams was still strong, and for a moment Naruto actually forgot his troubles and began to slip back into how he used to be. It wasn't until Kiba asked what he'd been through that everything came back to him in force, and darkened his mood again. He felt the sudden need to be alone again, maybe somewhere no one would bother to disturb him.

"Hey guys, I haven't had chance to train since I've been gone and all, so I'm going to train for a while. Thanks Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei for the ramen. Kiba we need to catch up sometime soon, Ja." He said quickly, ignoring their confused expressions as he stood up and waved to them, walking away towards the training fields before they could stop him.

Iruka, Kakashi and Kiba, stared after him dumbfounded. To them, that seemed so very out of the blue. While they were talking there was no indication that Naruto wanted to leave until the end of the conversation, when Kiba questioned him about Akatsuki and that seemed odd. Naruto hadn't even given them enough time to say anything, not even a goodbye before he left. It was unlike Naruto and while Kiba shrugged it off as nothing, Iruka and Kakashi shared another concerned look. They didn't say anything though. Iruka figured they would just talk to him tomorrow morning again. He certainly wouldn't let it drop anyway. Shortly after Naruto left Kiba said his goodbye to Iruka and Kakashi, and left to go find Hinata, leaving the two of them alone. Iruka sighed and rested his head on Kakashi's shoulder and Kakashi looked down at him sadly, kissing his head softly. Kakashi understood how tough this was on Iruka, knowing there was something wrong with Naruto, but not knowing what that was. After sitting in content silence for a while, they stood up and left the ramen bar for home.

At the training field Naruto trained relentlessly, not stopping even to catch his breath. He had to get stronger. To make sure that no one would ever get the better of him again he needed to get stronger, faster and cleverer. He didn't want to think about what would happen if he wasn't the best. He decided that no matter what he had to do, he would win and defeat whatever and whoever got in his way.

Naruto trained until it was dark and he was finding it difficult to move his limbs. Convincing himself he'd done enough, he finally started to slowly stumble to his apartment, set on walking in and falling straight to sleep.

Opening the door to his apartment, he instantly moved towards his bedroom, not bothering to turn on the lights. Being so mentally and physically exhausted Naruto didn't notice anything wrong or out of place. Not the open window which he had closed on the way out of his apartment and definitely not the person sat waiting on his bed for him. He only noticed when the person spoke.

"Naruto." That one word sent his heart racing. He jumped and swore loudly in surprise. He knew that voice.

_Why was he here?_ Naruto thought to himself in disbelief. Naruto spun around and sure enough there he was. Naruto couldn't believe it. He tried convincing himself that this was just his imagination playing tricks on him, but he knew that wasn't the case. Despite how unlikely it was, he was there, in Narutos apartment, on his bed. It was Itachi.

Naruto opened his mouth to ask what Itachi was doing there but his question seemed to be lodged in his throat and he couldn't force them out. He was utterly speechless. That's when Itachi stood up and silently walked towards him. That's also when Naruto noticed that Itachi was still wearing his Akatsuki cloak. He knew that it meant he wasn't on a break off missions. Narutos heart was suddenly racing with fear. This was it. The Akatsuki had decided they want the Kyuubi. He felt like crying. It felt like a cruel joke, tearing him apart from the inside. Using Itachi to retrieve him, the one he loved and trusted most hurt him more than anything else he could dream of. If he wanted to survive this Naruto knew he had to fight Itachi and win. He also knew deep down, he couldn't do it, even if he wanted to survive; Itachi was probably the only person he wouldn't fight. He knew, and the Akatsuki surely knew, that's why they sent him, the only reason he was here.

Naruto stood still, already defeated and braced himself.

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**A/N: **Hey BelieveIt here again! Hoped you liked the chapter, I worked really hard on it. I know it is a bit short, but I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, after being away for so long before, and also if I carried onto the main event, it would be too long, and I thought I'd let people speculate and anticipate what happens next ^^. If anyone wants to have a guess about how I choose to play this out feel free =P

Anyway hope to hear from you about how you liked this chapter and I'll get the next chapter as soon as I can ^^, hopefully it'll be longer too ^^

~BelieveIt ^^ x


	25. Chapter 24

In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Title: **In the Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi

**Author:** BelieveIt

**Pairing: **ItaNaru, SasuNaru (Later Chapters)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

**Summary: **When Sasuke suddenly leaves Konoha Naruto is distraught, he tries to find comfort thinking that Sasuke will one day return. After a long period of time Sasuke still has not returned and Naruto starts to lose hope. One day when Naruto sets off wondering when he catches a glimpse of what he thinks is Sasuke, but once he follows the boy he finds out that it is not Sasuke after all but Itachi. Naruto strangely enough finds comfort in seeing such a close resemblance in Itachi, even though it was Itachi who made Sasuke leave. Naruto tries to get close to Itachi in secret, Naruto hopes that he can be happy again with the Sasuke look-alike. After Countless of times of Narutos' pointlessly trying Itachi starts to get irritated, so he makes a deal with the young boy, if Naruto can defeat him in a battle then him and Naruto may become friends, but if he wins then Naruto must die. Will Naruto take the deal? What will happen if he does? Will he win or face his death? Will Sasuke ever come back to Konoha?

* * *

**In The Not-So Safe Arms of Itachi Chapter Twenty Four**

Naruto watched in defeat as Itachi walked towards him, feeling certain that he knew what Itachi was here for, the Kyuubi. The cloak was the biggest clue, as it meant that he was dressed for a mission, not for leisure. Naruto briefly wondered where Kisame was, but soon decided that he'd be nearby, waiting for a signal if he were to be needed. After all, their trick was to lure him into a false sense of security; make him believe that Itachi had changed his mind and was here to take him back with him. In Naruto's mind the note Itachi left with Sasuke suddenly made sense. To make him think Itachi cared for him, so he wouldn't be suspicious when he turned up, it was perfectly logical. He felt oddly betrayed by this even though he really should have expected this. What did he honestly expect, Itachi to hold these deep feeling of love inside him? Naruto mentally scoffed at the very idea. 'Get real' Naruto thought to himself. Itachi was a part of a criminal organization, specifically hunting people with demons locked away inside their bodies, waiting to extract them which would end up inevitably killing the host.

Even though he already felt defeated he felt the need to prepare himself for a battle brewing inside of him, needing to defend himself against the Akatsuki – against Itachi – but still he found that he couldn't. Despite his will to live, he just couldn't fight Itachi, not again. As Itachi continued to walk closer, Naruto found himself starting to give in to his undeniable fate – he began to think about the plus side of being captured and killed by the Akatsuki. He wouldn't have to live with the Kyuubi, and he wouldn't be around to see the devastation it would cause to his village, his friends. And, if he was honest, if anyone was going to kill him for the Kyuubi, he'd rather it was the Akatsuki than anyone else.

He stopped his thoughts in their tracks abruptly. This wasn't like him. He was stronger than this. He wouldn't just give in to the Akatsuki, not after all he's been through. He's been through hell and back, he should be able to do anything by now. He couldn't let the beast inside of him destroy everything he'd ever known or cared about; destroy him – that would be like letting them win. The last thing he wanted to do was fight Itachi, but he knew in his heart that he had to, to keep himself alive and to prove that he was not weak and never would be. If he died he would go down fighting.

Naruto tensed, shifting stance slightly, reaching inside of himself and pulling out all the teachings he had learned from Kakashi. Finding the perfect balance he was now ready to fight, he braced himself for what would ultimately be the fight of his life.

Itachi noticed the change of stance within Naruto but didn't allow it to stop or slow him down; he just kept on walking calmly towards him, with no emotion whatsoever on his face. Naruto, of course, knew Itachi thought he was no match for him, that Naruto was not physically strong enough to beat him. Even the usually head-strong Naruto himself doubted his ability to fight against Itachi; he hadn't had the training and years of experience Itachi had, but he just knew he had to try with everything he had, for his own peace of mind, so he would know that he did the best he could. Before they began their fight, however, Naruto wanted to know just one last thing. It was the one question that plagued his mind continuously since he came back to Konoha.

"Did I ever matter to you?"

Itachi didn't answer, just kept walking. Naruto felt his heart shatter like fragile glass. There was an answer within that silence. He'd been wrong. So wrong to believe that Itachi cared, even a little bit. Naruto watched Itachi carefully and noticed something peculiar, something he should have noticed sooner. Instead of his usual style of fighting, Itachi seemed to be expecting to walk right up to him and grab him. There was no build up of chakra, and he hadn't even activated his Sharingan, which was extremely unusual. Did he really think it would be that easy?

Itachi was only a couple of feet away from him and still moving closer. Naruto started to feel nervous, now unsure of what was going to happen. In the blink of an eye Itachi was standing right there, in front of him.

Silently Itachi reached up, pulled his cloak open further and dropped it from his shoulders. The silky cloak whispered sweetly as it fell to the floor.

As his cloak pooled around his feet, he wordlessly reached for Naruto, who squeezed his eyes shut scared, and brought him slowly into a tender embrace.

Naruto froze in an overwhelming sense of shock, his body rigid in Itachi's arms. Whatever he had been expecting Itachi to do, it certainly wasn't this. He could feel the heat of Itachi's body against his own, his arms wrapped tightly around his back. The light pressure on top of his head told him that Itachi had his cheek resting gently against his hair. It was so tempting to succumb to the embrace, but he couldn't overcome his doubts just yet. What if this was just a clever trick, another ploy to capture him?

"I've come straight from a mission, I couldn't wait." Itachi murmured into Naruto's hair. There was silence between the two, Naruto still rigid against Itachi's body. "I came alone, Naruto. Kisame is on his way to the hideout."

After hearing that last sentence, that there was no one but Itachi here, Naruto visibly relaxed and tentatively returned the embrace. When nothing happened Naruto gripped onto the back of Itachi's shirt hard, until his knuckles went white with the strain. His heart was being reformed, into something stronger. Naruto started to shake, too many emotions building up inside of him at once; relief, disbelief, shock, happiness... love.

Hang on! Love? Did he really feel that way for Itachi? Yes, he decided. He loved Itachi.

They stayed in the embrace for what seemed like hours but was actually only minutes. Even though they didn't know it, they both felt utterly complete together. This is right where they belonged. In each other's arms. Naruto never wanted to let go, not even for a second. Naruto looked up from Itachi's chest into Itachi's face, hoping Itachi would look down at him and kiss him. When he didn't, when Itachi just kept his cheek to his hair, he buried his face back into his warm chest, listening to the beating of Itachi's heart. Itachi suddenly lifted his head off Naruto's head.

"Come back with me." It was at those words that Naruto finally stepped out of the embrace and backed up a step, shocked for the second time that evening. His dream was coming true. He was being allowed to go back. _To his home. _Konoha wasn't home anymore. Not to him. His home is wherever Itachi is. With or without the Akatsuki being involved.

Reality kicked in. He can't leave. He's been back in Konoha only a matter of days. What was he supposed to say to those he cared for? Especially Iruka, he was worrying enough about him as it was. He couldn't just disappear. His heart sunk in despair, the dream he's longed for couldn't come true. Not yet. Was he ever supposed to have his happy ending?

"I can't" Naruto choked out, already on the verge of tears. "I can't leave now. I've only just got here." Itachi was stunned. He'd been so sure Naruto would have jumped at the chance, he was sure this was what Naruto wanted. The rejection put an ache in his chest. Itachi forced himself to think about the words Naruto had just spoken and realised he understood his reasoning's. He did have other elements to take into account. Such as he can't just up and leave without a word, people cared about him here. This was, after all, still technically his home. Thinking back on the exact words Naruto had said, he realised that Naruto had said he can't leave _now. _Meaning he wanted to come with him. Just couldn't right now. It's too abrupt.

"I understand. I will come and see you when I can and when you are ready, we will leave together." Itachi wrapped his arms around Naruto again, providing him with the comfort he was sure Naruto needed.

Naruto looked up at Itachi, tears shining like beautiful crystals in his eyes. "Thank you" Naruto whispered, swallowing the lump that was in his throat. "Thank you so much for understanding." Naruto gripped Itachi tighter.

Itachi looked down at Naruto, a soft expression that wasn't there before on his face. "There is nothing I wouldn't try to understand for you, nothing I wouldn't accept, even if I didn't understand it. You're mine now Naruto. My Naruto, I hope you are okay with that, because there's nothing you can do to change it."

Naruto ran his hands up Itachi's back until he gripped his long silky hair softly, bringing Itachi's head down so he could whisper into his ear.

"I am more than okay with that. Never in my life have I been more okay." Naruto manipulated Itachi's head so they were face to face and then Naruto leaned in slowly and softly pressed his lips against the other's. A beautiful, indescribable feeling washed over them both, leaving them breathless in its wake.

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**A/N: **Hello everyone! BelieveIt is back! I am incredibly sorry for the wait. I really have no excuse, but I am back now with a vengeance. I hope you like this chapter, I have worked really hard to get this chapter perfect, to make up for the time you've all had to wait. I would like to thank my very good friend Homesweethomicide13, who spent a lot of time with me, helping me and proofreading. I would also like to thank those who have been patient with me and reviewed my last chapter; I always appreciate them so much. Anyway now that I'm back, I will have the next chapter up as soon as I can. Which will be soon, because I'm on a roll :P. Anyway I hope you all like it; I look forward to hearing your thoughts about this chapter. Oh and sorry it is a little short.

BelieveIt xx


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